


Reading Partner Program

by Rynryn



Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: M/M, OT7, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-10
Updated: 2018-11-10
Packaged: 2019-08-21 10:24:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 40,029
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16574684
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rynryn/pseuds/Rynryn
Summary: You normally don’t think about your future when you’re younger. It’s a flaw ingrained in all humans that we unfortunately don’t think about how our choices in the present can affect our future until much later in our lives that usually, but not always, are too late to try and change these pre-chosen choices. In hopes to attempt to fix these ongoings, an education program was built around the concept of building life-long friendships.





	Reading Partner Program

**Author's Note:**

  * For [mrtvejpes](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mrtvejpes/gifts).



> Happy Birthday Bára!! <3   
> I hope that you have a great day!
> 
> I never write but the birthday girl requested I post this, so here ya go

“You normally don’t think about your future when you’re younger. It’s a flaw ingrained in all humans that we unfortunately don’t think about how our choices in the present can affect our future until much later in our lives that usually, but not always, are too late to try and change these pre-chosen choices. In hopes to attempt to fix these ongoings, we built an education program around the concept of building life-long friendships. Unless a family decides to leave and move out of the village, you are basically surrounded by the same people your entire life and they become more than just classmates you went to school with. Friendships and relationships are formed with such strong bonds that others from outside the village are easily jealous when seeing them. These attachments can definitely be seen as negative however. Being too attached to someone can lead to obsessing over someone and wanting to possess them more so than a normal relationship. But for whatever reason, this village has been able to bypass this aspect and there hasn’t been any noteworthy problems with their program. In fact, the village has one of the highest test scores for their schools in all of Korea. Their crime rate is much lower than the countries average and their turnover rate of graduates into lifelong positions within the village are extremely high. Of course there are still those few that want to see more outside of the village and they are absolutely allowed to do so. Many just choose to stay because they are content and comfortable. As you all know, the program did eventually break down due to some political issues but the remnants still lingered and those in the program created lifelong friendships as you see here.” the principal explained to the open house group of parents as she pointed to the glass case in the hallway that showed pictures of kids from the program in the past. One photo collage stood out amongst the others to the principal as she personally knew these kids when she was just a teacher at this school. After the open house, ended she went back to her office and thought about that one group of kids.

Waking up for school wasn’t something many young children looked forward to. Unless you were starting your first day of your third year of elementary school that is. As per tradition, all third years were partnered with a first year to become their reading partner for the year. This was the beginning of building these bonds. As a third year, you already have had your chance at being someone’s first year and so you already have a bond formed with someone older than you. Unfortunately for two of our boys, they both moved into the village as second years so were not given the opportunity to have a special bond that they saw all their classmates with. Which is why these two are even more excited to be third years because now they get to witness these amazing bonds first hand as they get assigned their very own first years. 

The Son’s had moved to the village due the mother wanting her sons to have the best opportunity for their futures and after hearing so many amazing things about the village she convinced her husband to move their family of four to the village. Hyunwoo and his little brother Jooheon were now going to have these amazing bonds that were highly spoken about. Jooheon would have to wait a few more years since he was still too young to attend school just yet. Hyunwoo rushed through his morning routine and was already sitting at the table waiting for his breakfast as his mother was struggling with a young Jooheon. Watching the clock, Hyunwoo decided if he helped with his little brother that maybe his mother would hurry up and he could get to school faster. Standing from his chair he moved over to help dress his brother. 

“Come on Joo, aren’t you hungry?” he raised his eyebrows at his little brother as he helped pop the child’s head through his shirt and moved on to pushing his arms through the sleeve holes as well. Jooheon just smiled and nodded at his older brother.

“Yes hyung, I berrrrry hungry” Hyunwoo just smiled and laughed at his little brother as he smoothed out the shirt. He moved on to moving his brothers hair around until it looked better than before and he took his hand and walked with him towards the table.

“Well then let's sit next to each other, ok?” Jooheon nodded again aggressively as Hyunwoo helped lift Jooheon into his booster seat. Their mother smiled at her sons as she finished cooking and brought over their food for their breakfast. Jooheon watched as his older brother started inhaling his food and he quickly mimicked Hyunwoo. However because Jooheon wasn’t nearly as coordinated as his older brother, he started spilling his food to which his mother quickly intervenes.

“Okay okay that’s my cue. Joo, we don’t have to rush” their mother carefully covers Jooheon’s hand with her own. Jooheon looks up at her with his big puppy dog eyes and points at his brother with his spoon.

“Buh hyung is doing it tooooo” he whined. Their mother looked over at her oldest and as if he could feel her eyes on him he looked up with a mouthful of food.

“What?!” he clearly wasn’t listening to their conversation as he was too excited thinking about gaining a reading partner today. Their mother just laughed and shook her head, already knowing what her son was lost in thoughts of.

“Hyunwoo, sweetheart. I know you are excited to get to school but your brother is watching your every move..” she nodded towards the mess and Hyunwoo frowned.

“Sorry Mom…” his ears turned a little red as he was embarrassed. Jooheon noticed and pouted at his brother. 

“Buh why hyung esited? Hyung no wanna pay wif Joo today?” he started to pout more and reached his hands towards his big brother. Hyunwoo immediately moved closer and took his brothers hand.

“No no Joo. I still wanna play with you all the time. But I have to start going back to school today. Remember how I use to come home and tell you all the fun stories about my day at school? I’ll have so many new stories to tell you from now.” This seemed to help calm the toddler as he just nodded and squeezed his brothers hand. The rest of their breakfast was calm as Hyunwoo finished his food then helped clean his little brothers mess before he jumped up and grabbed his bag. There was knock at the door as Hyunwoo was tying his shoes but his eyes flew to the door in excitement. He already knew who was at the door before the piece of wood was opened. Here enters Hyunwoo’s best friend and the second child entering their third year without a special bond formed, Shin Hoseok. He and his family had moved to the town due to Mr. Shin getting hired at the high school as the baseball coach earlier in the year. Hoseok and Hyunwoo immediately clicked as they were both the new kids without friends. The two had spent almost every free minute with each other over the summer talking about their reading partners they were soon going to be assigned. Hoseok had wanted to practice on his own brother, Changkyun but the almost one year old was more interested on chewing on the books then listening to the story so Hoseok would share Jooheon with Hyunwoo. Jooheon loved the attention so he was not one to complain. 

Mrs. Son let the Shin’s into the house as Hoseok ran straight to Hyunwoo smiling. Jooheon was busy making funny faces at little Changkyun in his mother's arms as Mrs. Shin was passing over the diaper bag. The arrangement would go as Mrs. Shin would walk the boys to school while Mrs. Son watched Changkyun and Jooheon. The Son’s and the Shin’s had all become close friends due to being the new people in the village so they were all practically family by now. 

“Are we ready boys?” Mrs. Shin called out as the boys were already heading towards the door.

“Yes please. I don’t want to be late” Hyunwoo nodded up to his best friends mom. Hoseok giggled behind his taller friend and agreed with him as well. 

“Well aren’t these two eager?” she laughed as she looked to her friend holding her youngest.

“I feel like it’s going to be a talkative night once they return” Mrs. Son nodded to her neighbor as she bent down for Hyunwoo to kiss her “Goodbye kiss before you run off little man.”

“Awww Mom… not in front of Hoseokie” Hyunwoo turned red again as he moved closer to his mother and quickly gave her a kiss. He could hear his best friend giggling behind him as he straightened himself and fixed his shirt “Bye Changkyunnie” he waved at the infant in his mother’s arms and then turned to his brother “Bye bye Joo, I’ll be back with pleeeenty of stories, okay?” He held up an okay sign to his brother who returned it back and nodded.

Mrs. Shin took both of their hands as they headed out and started the journey to their elementary school. While on the walk, Hyunwoo and Hoseok saw many other older kids in the neighborhood also walking to school with what you would normally think was their siblings but Hoseok had learned early on that they weren’t siblings in the same sense that he and Changkyun were. Hoseok could not contain his excitement about being assigned a reading partner. He had watched as his classmates got to eat lunch with their older partners who also had partners. It seemed as if everyone was cliqued together with who was going to be their best friend for the rest of their lives and Hoseok wanted one. He was lucky to have met Hyunwoo and hoped that he and Hyunwoo could be a clique with their partners together. Then they could start a secret club together and play games and tell each other stories every day. Hoseok was excited because as much as he loved his little brother Changkyun, a one year old wasn’t very exciting for a seven year old. Hoseok wanted to go on adventures and all Changkyun wanted to do was drool all over everything. 

Arriving to the school grounds, Mrs. Shin was greeted by the boys teacher immediately. She bowed her head to the nice woman and made the boys introduce themselves as well. The third year teacher was already informed to look out for Hyunwoo and Hoseok as this would be their first assignment into the program. She started talking about the program to Mrs. Shin who smiled and nodded, already knowing about the program as it was all Hoseok had been talking about with Hyunwoo since they moved in some months earlier. At the mention of getting their assignments, Hoseok started smiling from ear to ear at his teacher. The teacher reassured Mrs. Shin that everything would be fine and Mrs. Shin just smiled and thanked the lady.

“Okay boys, listen to your teacher today and remember to be on your best behavior. Hyunwoo, your mom will be picking the two of you up this afternoon. So make sure you find Hoseok and take him with you” she nodded to the taller boy. Hyunwoo agreed and patted his best friends shoulder.

“Don’t worry Mrs. Shin I won’t ever leave Hoseokie behind” he looked to his best friend who nodded in agreement with Hyunwoo and giggled.

“Yeah Mom, we’re big boys now. We’re even getting partners this year so I gotta be more responsible anway” he puffed up his chest at his mother who shook her head and sighed slightly.

“That’s my big boy” kissing him on the cheek she laughed as Hoseok turned as red as a tomato and Hyunwoo tried to conceal his laughter as well. Hoseok’s hand quickly came up to his cheek as he shook his head.

“Mooooom…” he whined as she stood and said goodbye to the teacher who was immediately taking the boys hands and bringing them to the rest of their classmates. After the whole class had gathered together, they moved inside to the classroom. The first few lessons were kind of a blur to Hyunwoo and Hoseok as all they could think about was meeting their partners later after lunch. Lunchtime came and Hoseok sat a table alone with Hyunwoo in the cafeteria. They both took out their lunch kits as they looked around at all their schoolmates sitting and eating with their cliques.

“Just think about it Hoseokie, starting tomorrow we will have two little new friends to eat with us” Hyunwoo smiled brightly as he watched older schoolmates around them help their younger partners with their lunches “We’ll even get to share our lunches with them” nodding towards the tables around them. Hoseok looked over and smiled but then frowned as he saw his own lunch.

“I guess I have to tell Mom to pack me more to share starting tomorrow or I am going to be hungry..” he shrugged but then laughed when he saw his best friend shaking his head at him. The two boys couldn’t help but watch everyone around them in excitement. They didn’t like being left out and were completely grateful for each other but they couldn’t lie and say they weren’t excited to be adding to their group. Lunch couldn’t end fast enough as they watched their older schoolmates wave bye to their partners as everyone went back to their classrooms. Hoseok spotted the class of first years walking together holding hands as he looked them over wondering who he and Hyunwoo would be partnered with. Entering their own classroom, their teacher already had the infamous list of partners as she quickly got the third years into their seats to pass out their first sharable book for their partners. 

The main assignment of this program was the third years would help teach the first years how to read. They would visit their partners twice a week for an hour of reading time. The first years would benefit from having a peer read to them and the third years would get to practice their reading comprehension skills as they would have to answer the million questions the five year olds were bound to throw at them about the stories. They were also assigned to eat together at lunch so to build their interpersonal skills and work on being social. Hoseok had noticed that many of the older schoolmates would even help their partners with their homework assignments at lunch as they got older. He was sure that he wouldn’t have to help the five year old with any homework but he knew it would be in his future and he was very much looking forward to it. 

The teacher knew the children were excited so she quickly lined them up alphabetically with their books in their hands as they filed out of the classroom one by one. Hoseok was ahead of Hyunwoo so he smiled at his best friend before following the person in front of him towards the first year classroom. The school purposely kept the first year classroom in the same building as the third year classroom so that they had easier access to each other. They were also in the same building as the fifth years so Hoseok’s classmates had their partners from when they were first years in the same building as well. Which of course meant the second, the fourth, and the sixth years shared a building as well. This was all to keep the partners in close proximity of each other if they ever needed each other. Hoseok’s smile only got brighter as he found the first years classroom. They quietly were escorted to stand in the front as the first year teacher was struggling to keep a certain first year seated. Hoseok laughed as he saw how excited this first year was to see the third years. He immediately made eye contact with Hyunwoo as they both nodded to each other. The first year teacher joined the third year teacher with their lists. They both went over the general rules of this partnership that the third years already had memorized. The first years watched the two teachers talk with excitement in their eyes. They may not quite understand how important this assignment was at the moment but Hoseok knew they would grow up to realise it and he was excited to be a part of someone else's life in such an important way. He remembered all the stories his father would come home with about how close the members of the baseball team were, all like brothers and Hoseok was excited to gain a new brother. Maybe this new brother wouldn't try to eat his favorite toys and be able to actually play ball with him instead of getting distracted. Before he knew it, the third year teacher started calling names as the first year teacher was helping the first years respond to their names. Hoseok’s palms started to get sweaty as he watched his classmates start to move to the tables with their new reading partners. He waited patiently until they got to his name and he immediately raised his hand and stepped forward. His eyes found the first year teacher as she walked towards a young boy with big eyes. He heard his teacher say the name to his partner but his heart was pounding in his ears that he wasn't sure he heard it quite right. The first year teacher motioned for Hoseok to join them as Hoseok practically skipped over to sit at the table with his partner. The younger boy looked up at Hoseok with his big bright eyes and Hoseok smiled as his smile was reflected back at him. The first year teacher luckily reintroduced them as she helped the first year introduce himself. Hoseok could have sworn that nightingales were singing as the little boy said his name 

“Nice to meet you, Hoseok-hyung, my name is Yoo Kihyun" Hoseok smiled even brighter as he repeated the name back to the young boy.

“Yoo Kihyun?” the younger boy nodded and giggled as he hid his face behind his hands and Hoseok blushed as he looked back at Hyunwoo who was giving him the biggest smile he had ever seen on his best friend. While the teachers started assigning the rest of the class, Hoseok watched Kihyun play with his fingers in his lap while they waited patiently. Hoseok was lightly tapping the book in his lap, trying to think of something to talk about with the younger. 

“Kihyunnie, what's your favorite color?” Hoseok asked the younger as he watched the young boy turn back towards him and with the biggest smile he answered.

“Oh, Kihyunnie likes blue the most. Look..” the five year old quickly pulled out his notebook and pencil case to show that they were all blue. Hoseok even noticed that the boys eraser and sharpener were also blue. He smiled and nodded at him.

“Hyung likes all your blue things Kihyunnie. Hyung also likes blue but my favorite would have to be red, do you like red too?” Hoseok had to hold back a laugh as the five year old looked to be in serious thought over his question. After a nerve wracking couple of seconds the five year old smiled back up at Hoseok.

“Yes Kihyunnie also like red too hyung" Hoseok released the breath he didn't realise he was holding in as he nodded back to Kihyun. Hoseok looked up to find Hyunwoo as his best friend was walking towards the first year teacher. Hoseok's eyes followed his friend and he had to cover his mouth to hold back his laughter as he watched his best friend being assigned to the first year from earlier that was super excited. Hyunwoo kept his smile on as he introduced himself to the first year who immediately took Hyunwoo’s hand and looked in their direction.

“Kihyunnie look! My partners name is… uhh what was your name again?” the five year old almost yelled across the room. Hoseok looked at Kihyun who was shaking his head but smiling at his classmate. Kihyun looked back to Hoseok and giggled.

“That's Minhyukkie, he's my best friend” as he pointed to the five year old still holding Hyunwoo’s hand. Hoseok laughed and nodded to Kihyun.

“Wow, really Kihyunnie? That boy with Minhyukkie is my best friend, Hyunwoo” he smiled as he watched Kihyun’s eyes grow wide then giggle as he turned back to Minhyuk. Hyunwoo looked like he whispered his name to Minhyuk as the five year old giggled and then looked back to Kihyun.

“Hyunwoo-hyungie, Kihyunnie. That's his name” Minhyuk smiled brightly as he waved at Kihyun to which the fellow five year old waved back.  The first year teacher asked Minhyuk to sit down and Hoseok watched Hyunwoo help him sit back down. What a small world Hoseok thought as he looked at his best friend and his new partner. Not only did both he and Hyunwoo not have previous partners but now they get their first partners that happen to be best friends too. Hoseok didn't think he could be happier. His new clique was just started and he was already ecstatic about the possibilities. Now he just hoped he wouldn't make a fool of himself in front of Kihyun. 

The teachers made sure they had everyone's attention before setting the timer. The pairs would have fifteen minutes to get to know each other before spending the rest of the time going through their first book. The classroom was filled with light chatter as everyone started talking amongst each other. Hoseok watched as a few of his classmates moved with their partners to different tables to be with other classmates so his eyes immediately caught Hyunwoo’s. Hyunwoo must have been thinking the same thing because he watched as Hyunwoo stood holding Minhyuk’s hand as they made their way over. Minhyuk was waving aggressively at Kihyun as they sat down. The four of them introduced themselves to the others that didn't know each other and exchanged favorite colors as well as favorite tv shows and snacks. Hoseok made a mental note to ask his mom to pack some watermelon from now on so that he could feed it to Kihyun. While watching Minhyuk animatedly discuss his favorite show Hoseok couldn't take his eyes off of Kihyun. The five years old eyes were so bright as he watched his best friend talk. Hoseok wondered if he looked like that when Hyunwoo spoke. However Hyunwoo never spoke this energetically. Minhyuk started to remind Hoseok of Jooheon. He thinks Hyunwoo and Minhyuk will get along fine. He doesn't see much similarity between Kihyun and his brother Changkyun but as long as nothing gets drooled on, he was happy. The timer surprised everyone in the classroom as the teachers told them to bring out their books. They would spend the remainder of their time together reading the books and then they would be separated until tomorrow at lunch. Hoseok pouted at this thought but immediately wiped it off his face when Kihyun turned to him with his bright eyes and smile.

“Hoseokie-hyung, are you okay?” he tilted his head to the side a little as he reached towards Hoseok hesitantly. Hoseok noticed and grabbed the young boys hand before he stopped and smiled to the five year old.

“Yes hyung is great. Let's get started on this book!” He giggled as Kihyun nodded excitedly and Hoseok let his hand go to bring the book on to the desk. Kihyun scooted closer to see the pictures as Hoseok started reading the story slowly, making sure he added voices and sound effects that Hyunwoo had taught him. Spending time with Hyunwoo and Jooheon over the summer helped prepare for this moment and he was quite proud of himself as he saw Kihyun react to him. Their first book was simple enough that there shouldn't be any questions asked but Hoseok could hear Minhyuk stopping Hyunwoo every few sentences to ask the older boy about the story. Hyunwoo felt himself lucky to have Jooheon at home as he was well prepared to use his imagination for the questions he didn't know the answers to.

Time seem to fly with their partners because the bell was ringing to announce the next lessons and their third year teacher was calling her students to stand and say their goodbyes. Hoseok watched as Minhyuk pouted and grabbed for Hyunwoo's hand. Hoseok looked expectantly at Kihyun to see his reaction and was slightly disappointed when Kihyun just smiled at him and waved. 

“Goodbye Hoseokie-hyung. Thank you for the story!” Hoseok smiled back at the younger and nodded. 

“You're very welcome Kihyunnie. I will pick you up for lunch tomorrow okay? We can eat with Hyunwoo and Minhyukkie too!” he motioned towards the pair next to them and Kihyun nodded excitedly.

“Yay, I can't wait” Hoseok had to turn away slightly as he started blushing due to Kihyun's reaction. Hyunwoo had gotten Minhyuk to let him go and the two boys walked out with the rest of their classmates. 

Once back in their classroom, their teacher told them about their lunch assignments for the rest of the week and Hoseok was ecstatic at the idea of seeing Kihyun every day the rest of the week. Well the whole school year actually. He made it his goal to make Kihyun his new little brother by the end of their first quarter. The rest of the day flew by and before he knew it, Hyunwoo was tapping him on the shoulder to pack up. Hoseok nodded and quickly gathered his things to put them in his bag and walk out with his friend. They spotted Hyunwoo's mom easily and ran over to her. Before she could even ask about their first day, Hyunwoo and Hoseok were talking over each other about their partners. This caught the man's attention next to them as he lightly tapped Hyunwoo's mom's shoulder. 

“Excuse me I'm not trying to eavesdrop but did your son just say he was partnered with Minhyuk? Lee Minhyuk?” Hyunwoo looked up at the mention of his partners name and went to answer before a squeal came from the school's door entrance.

“Daddyyyyy!!” Everyone turned to look as Minhyuk came running towards the adult and jumped into his arms before he noticed Hyunwoo. “Hyunwoo-hyungie!!” the young boy waved at the third year. Mrs. Son smiled at their interaction as the parents exchanged contact information at learning about their children's connection. Hoseok couldn't help but look around for Kihyun. Minhyuk was a smart one and noticed Hoseok looking around. “Kihyunnie was behind me Hoseok-hyungie” Hoseok had to hide his blush as he nodded and looked a little harder until he saw Kihyun at the same time Minhyuk did “Kihyunniiiiie" the five year old yelled as he waved at his fellow classmate. Hoseok watched as Kihyun's mom carried Kihyun over. Kihyun's mom said hello to Minhyuk’s dad, apparently already knowing each other as Minhyuk interrupted them “Kihyunnie mommy, this is my partner Hyunwoo-hyungie and his best friend is Kihyunnie’s partner” Kihyun smiled down at Hoseok and nodded to his mother.

“Minhyukkie is right Mommy. This is Hoseokie-hyung" The lady crouched down still holding Kihyun as she held out her hand to Hoseok.

“It's very nice to meet you Hoseokie” Hoseok smiled brightly and shook her hand as Kihyun giggled.

“It's very nice to meet you as well Mrs. Yoo” the lady smiled back at her and stood back up. She exchanged greetings with Hyunwoo's mother who even gave her Hoseok's mom's information. She explained their school arrangements but assured them that the four families should get together if their children were going to be spending so much time together. They all agreed before saying their goodbyes and going their separate ways. The entire walk home was spent listening to Hyunwoo and Hoseok telling Mrs. Son about their partners and to her delight she heard the whole story repeated at dinner with Jooheon and her husband. When Hoseok had dinner with his parents and baby brother, he told the story about Kihyun again. His mother had spoken with Mrs. Son already so she knew a little about Kihyun's family and was already expecting to meet them soon. While his mother started to put the dishes away, Hoseok watched his father play peek-a-boo with Changkyun. Hoseok smiled but ran to his mother's side, gently tugging her shirt to get her attention. She turned and looked down at him 

“Mommy, do we have some watermelon?” I wanna bring some for Kihyunnie. Remember I said that was his favorite fruit?" he nodded at himself as he was proud he remembered and his mother couldn't help but smile back. She moved to the fridge and pulled out a container of said fruit as Hoseok's eyes grew wide.

“We are in luck, I will make sure to pack some for you both tomorrow" Hoseok clapped his hands and ran off to color a picture for Kihyun as well.

And just like that, their friendship started. Hoseok spent every free moment he had making something to give to Kihyun. He got in trouble multiple times for bringing toys to school but he just had to show the new robot or car or machine that he was able to build with his legos. It also was a bonus that Kihyun would show Hoseok his giant wide eyes whenever he surprised Kihyun with something new. That distinct look on Kihyun’s face became Hoseok’s driving force to continue making him gifts. It also became regular for a visit from Mrs. Yoo to bring Mrs. Shin new legos to replace the ones that her son was taking from the older child. Speaking of the parents, they started off with monthly get togethers. The Son’s, the Yoo’s, the Lee’s and the Shin’s would get together for lunch or dinner on the weekend to allow everyone time to get to know each other. After their first few meetings, they upped the frequency from once a month to once a week to keep the children satisfied. You’d think that eating lunch with each other every day would be enough but Kihyun and Minhyuk were asking for Hoseok and Hyunwoo daily. The mothers tried to pass it off as being a result of being an only child but whatever reason it was, their children were always smiling and having fun when they were together. 

Hoseok could confidently say that Kihyun saw him as big brother now and that made him the happiest he could ever be. He was also pleased to say that Kihyun had never tried to eat any of Hoseok’s things. Looking over at his baby brother in the high chair currently chewing on his bib, Hoseok just shook his head and turned his attention back to Kihyun who was sitting next to him in a booster seat. Hoseok had quickly taken on the role of protective brother as he reached over and made sure that Kihyun was buckled in tightly even though Kihyun’s mother had already done so. Kihyun looked down at Hoseok’s hands and smiled, taking the hand into his own and playing with older’s fingers.

“Hoseokie-hyung, why are your hands so scratchy? Does your Mommy not put lotion on them like my mommy?” he raised his eyes up to the older and Hoseok smiled back and shook his head.

“She doesn’t Kihyunnie, maybe I should ask her to do that?” he asked the younger who eagerly nodded back and looked over to where Hoseok’s mom was sitting with Changkyun.

“Hoseokie-hyung’s Mommy!! I told hyung he should get lotion put on his hands like my mommy does. Kihyunnie wants to play with Hoseokie-hyung’s hands but they’re all scratchy” the five year old pouted and Hoseok had to try his hardest to keep himself from turning too red while the whole table turned their attention to them. Hoseok’s mom smiled brightly at them and agreed.

“Thank you so much Kihyunnie. I will make sure Hoseokie’s hand are soft for you starting tomorrow” she laughed slightly as she watched her oldest son get even redder at the conversation. “You might also want to tell Hoseokie that he should be careful when playing so that he doesn’t hurt his hands either” she pointed her eyes towards her son and everyone at the table had to hold back their laughter. Kihyun gasped and immediately gripped Hoseok’s hand that he had in his own.

“Hoseokie-hyung!! You can’t hurt yourself!” he shook his head furiously and pouted even more at the older. Hoseok’s own eyes widened at the younger’s reaction and placed his free hand on top of the others.

“Don’t worry Kihyunnie. I promise I won’t get hurt”

“You promise?”

“I promise”

Their first year together flew by. By the end of the year, Kihyun had become an expert reader and Hoseok liked to pride himself that it was all due to his reading to the younger but whenever Kihyun would correct Hoseok for missing a word in the story, Hoseok would think that maybe Kihyun was just really smart. Kihyun also had a whole book shelf displaying the figures that Hoseok had made for him over the year. He pouted the day he announced that he had no more room and his mom said that he couldn’t bring any more home. Hoseok was sad but Kihyun cheered him up immediately by saying that they could just draw new ones and he would keep them in his folder so that they wouldn’t make a mess at home. Hoseok like this idea and everything was back to normal. 

Minhyuk and Hyunwoo were hitting it off as well. Minhyuk’s parents called Hyunwoo a blessing for being able to keep their son calm most of the time. The older’s presence always relaxed the rambunctious five year old and they would sit together playing games and coloring. The only times Minhyuk would get really loud were when the four children were playing games together and Hoseok started to beat Hyunwoo and when it was time to say goodbye. The next day, Minhyuk would always be the first one to find them, dragging a poor Kihyun behind him as they ran to greet each other in the hallway before going to class. 

As summer grew closer, the parents discussed playdates for the children and needless to say the kids were not willing to accept anything less than seeing each other every day. They were able to work out a schedule, taking turns to have the four children at each of their houses for a few hours a day for lunch and snacks. When they were really good or when Minhyuk begged enough, they would even have sleepovers but always at Hyunwoo’s house because Jooheon was starting to feel left out and wanted to be included in his big brother’s fun. 

Mrs. Son made sure to take plenty of pictures during these special nights and sent them to the group chat for the parents. All agreed that they were over the moon that their children were all hitting it off and getting along so well. The Son’s and Shin’s asked many questions to the Lee’s and the Yoo’s about their partners from when they were younger and if they were still in touch. Mr. Yoo worked at a company that was owned and run by his partner and their extended partners were all there as well. Mrs. Yoo and Mrs. Lee still met up with their extended family of partners once a month for a girl’s night and it was a surprise for the Son’s and the Shin’s to learn that Mrs. Yoo and Mrs. Lee were partners growing up so that was why Minhyuk and Kihyun had already known each other. Mr. Lee played cards with his extended family of partners whenever they were free. The parents all agreed that this bond was going to help build something special for their children and agreed to do anything within their powers to make sure that their children were always happy together. Mrs. Yoo even admitted she would buy Kihyun a new bookshelf if that’s what it took and the parents all laughed. 

First day of fourth year for Hyunwoo and Hoseok started off early as they were meeting up with Minhyuk and Kihyun to show them around the new building that they would be spending their time in this year. It was basically a replica of their previous building but Kihyun was nervous and Hoseok would do anything to prove to Kihyun that he had nothing to be nervous about. He held the younger’s hand as they walked through the hallways and found their classrooms, the closest bathrooms and water fountains and their newest meetup spot to walk to lunch together. Most partners would meet up at specific tables but Hoseok and Hyunwoo would meet up with Kihyun and Minhyuk in the hallways before walking in to the cafeteria together. This year, they only got to see each other at lunch time as they didn’t have specified times to see each other during the school day and this caused Minhyuk to whine often. Before they knew it, their parents started a new schedule where they would take turns picking the foursome up from school and going together to do their homework and then bring them home. They would still all gather together on the weekends for outings and during baseball season, they would visit Mr. Shin at the high school and watch the games. After watching so many games, our little foursome had decided to start their own teeball team and soon every free evening, they were at the park playing ball and running around. More times than not, Minhyuk would make Hyunwoo run for him after he hit the ball but Hyunwoo would just shake his head and agree, even if he was playing on the other team. Mr. Shin would laugh at how the foursome would start making up their own rules, especially when they were being made to help the younger ones win. Some nights, Jooheon would join them as well and Hyunwoo would carefully help his brother hit the ball then run alongside him to their “bases”. 

When their second summer together came, the foursome spent most of it preparing Jooheon for his first year of school. Hoseok and Hyunwoo tried to do most of the teachings since, as they claimed, were the most experienced. However Kihyun would shake his head and correct them whenever they over exaggerated something. One night while playing a board game, a light bulb went off in Hoseok’s head as he sat up and looked at his group of friends.

“Wait a minute! Wait a minute! Kihyunnie and Minhyukkie are going to be third years, this year!!” Minhyuk rolled his eyes and nodded as he sat up as well.

“Well, yes hyungie. Third year does come after second year” Kihyun and Jooheon giggled at their friends as Hoseok pouted and shook his head.

“Thanks, Minhyukkie. What I meant is, you two are going to get partners this year. We’re going to get new friends to add to our group. Isn’t that exciting?!” his smile grew to his eyes and he wiggled slightly on the ground. Hunwoo hummed as he nodded towards the other.

“Hmm, that’s true. I wonder who they could be” Jooheon giggled louder and raised his hand.

“Me me!! I’m gonna be a first year. I wanna be your partner!” Minhyuk flung his arms around the younger and kissed the top of his head.

“I want Jooheonnie as my partner.I do I do!” Kihyun shook his head at his best friend and smiled.

“I don’t think we get to choose that Minhyukkie but it would be nice if it worked out that way. I don’t want Jooheonnie to leave us” Kihyun looked down to his hands as he fiddled his fingers in nervousness and Hoseok was quick to place his hand on top of the youngers and smile down at him.

“Joo would never leave us, right Joo? Even if we don’t get assigned together. You’re still Hyunwoo’s real younger brother” Jooheon quickly nodded and moved out of Minhyuk’s hold towards his big brother.

“Right! I’m always hyung’s little brother” sitting in his brother’s lap he smiled up at Hyunwoo who wrapped his arms around the younger and kissed the top of his head.

“Of course, you can’t get rid of me even if you tried Joo” the oldest started tickling his younger brother which quickly turned into a tickle fight between all five boys. 

When Hoseok arrived home, his mother stopped him in the hallway before he could walk all the way inside. She held a finger up to her lips and motioned for the boy to come closer. Hoseok leaned in and his mother did the same to whisper.

“Please check on your brother. I think he misses you” she gave him a sad look as she pulled back and nodded towards the living room. Hoseok sighed and nodded back to his mother before moving towards the living room.He found Changkyun sitting on the couch coloring. Hoseok went over to see and Changkyun heard his brother and immediately stopped coloring, shutting the book and quickly putting his colors back in the box. Hoseok stopped and pouted.

“What’s this? Are you hiding something from me Kyunnie?” he smirked a little as he moved closer to his baby brother. Changkyun was about to turn 3 and had finally gotten out of his chewing on everything stage. Hoseok was contemplating inviting his brother to hang out with his friends before the summer ended since he was starting to feel bad about leaving him at the house all the time. Of course, whenever he and his friends would hang out at his house, Kihyun and Minhyuk would always ask to play with Changkyun, finding him cute. Changkyun quickly shook his head at his brother.

“No hyungie, I not hiding anyting” he tried to smile at his brother but Hoseok knew him well enough to know that wasn’t a real smile. Hoseok ruffled the youngers hair and pouted slightly.

“Can hyungie color with you?” reaching slowly for the book he hoped to tempt the younger but was quickly shut down when Changkyun immediately shook his head again.

“No! Hyungie no like colowing anymore. Hyungie said is for babies. Kyunnie don’t wanna do baby tings with hyungie. Kyunnie wanna pay bawl with hyungie like Woo-hyungie and Joo-hyungie” Changkyun giggled at himself but Hoseok felt like the words slapped him in the face. He hadn’t meant to leave his brother out so much. He didn’t want Changkyun to be sad because Hoseok had new brothers. Changkyun was still his baby brother. Hoseok immediately forced a smile to his brother and nodded.

“Of course Kyunnie. We’re going to play tomorrow, let’s ask Mom if she can bring us both ok?” Changkyun clapped his hands and giggled some more.

“Mommyyyyy! Can I pay wif hyungie and his fwends? Dey gonna pay bawl. Kyunnie wanna pay wif dem peeeease?” their mother walked in to the room when she heard Changkyun call out and she gave them both a smile.

“Yes my dear Changkyunnie, I’ll let you go tomorrow if your hyung promises to watch out for you?” she raised an eyebrow to her oldest and smiled as Changkyun took his brothers hand and squeezed it.

“Peeeease hyungie. Kyunnie will stay by your side da whoooole time. Kyunnie won’t be bad” Hoseok laughed at his brother and quickly nodded, shaking their hands up and down as well.

“Hyungie promises. I will watch him the whole time Mom, no worries” Their mother mouthed a ‘thank you’ to Hoseok as she nodded and moved towards them to pick up Changkyun.

“Well let’s go get you a bath so that you can sleep and get ready to play with your big brother tomorrow, okay?” she kissed Changkyun’s cheek who nodded and rested his head on her shoulder. Hoseok watched them walk out the room and took the coloring book to see if he could find what Changkyun had been working on. This was his old coloring book that he use to use when he was making pictures for Kihyun almost two years ago but he had given it to Changkyun at the beginning of summer because he wasn’t coloring in it anymore. He made a mental note to ask his mom to help him buy Changkyun a new one that they could color in together. He also made a note to include Changkyun more often. Changkyun wasn’t as annoying as he was when he was younger and besides, Kihyun liked Changkyun so he knew Kihyun would want the younger boy around more often as well. 

The next afternoon could not come any faster as Changkyun was asking all day when it was time for them to leave. Hoseok smiled at how excited his brother was and he wanted to make sure that everything today would be perfect for his baby brother. Of course, things never went the way that he had hoped. By the time they got there, Changkyun was holding on to Hoseok’s hand as they walked over towards their group of friends. Minhyuk immediately spotted the toddler and ran over to hug him. Hoseok let Changkyun’s hand go so Minhyuk could pick him up and carry him the rest of the way.

“My little baby, I miiised you” Minhyuk hugged him tighter and kissed his cheek. Changkyun giggled but shook his head.

“Kyunnie not a baby Minnie-hyungie. Kyunnie a big boy. Kyunnie gonna pay bawl with hyungies” Hoseok smiled at his brother and ruffled his hair in agreement.

“Yes you are Kyunnie. Come let’s say hi to everyone else” he tried to take his brother from Minhyuk who refused and carried Changkyun over to see the others instead. Hoseok walked up to Kihyun and gave him a side hug as Kihyun was smiling up at him. The attention was quickly taken away once Kihyun saw Changkyun in Minhyuk’s arms.

“Ohhh Kyunnie, are you here to watch us play today?” Kihyun pinched the youngers cheek who scrunched his face and shook his head out of the hold.

“No Ki-hyungie. Kyunnie going to pay too. Hyungie is going to teach me” he pointed to his brother who nodded in agreement. Kihyun looked back to Hoseok and mirrored the smile, his eyes lighting up as he looked up at Hoseok.

“That’s so sweet, Hoseokie-hyung. I wanna help teach Kyunnie too” Kihyun reached for Hoseok’s hand and threaded their fingers together. Hoseok knew there was no denying Kihyun what he asked for so he simply agreed and squeezed the hand within his own. They decided Hyunwoo would be with Jooheon and Minhyuk while Hoseok was with Kihyun and Changkyun. Hyunwoo would still assist Jooheon so it wasn’t that unfair that Hoseok was going to be with Changkyun the whole time. Minhyuk whined but eventually put Changkyun down as the toddler took both Hoseok’s and Kihyun’s hands. They walked over to the tee and couldn’t help but laugh that the tee was taller than Changkyun. Changkyun started to pout but Kihyun crouched down and smiled at him.

“It’s okay Kyunnie. Hyungie will hit the ball for you and I will help you run to our bases, okay?” Changkyun brightened at the idea and looked up to Hoseok.

“Hyungie, you hit bawl for Kyunnie? Kyunnie gonna run wif Ki-hyungie!” Kihyun looked back up to Hoseok as well who just shrugged and nodded.

“Anything for my two favorite brothers!” he ruffled both of their hairs as they took a couple of minutes to explain their rules to Changkyun. After a while, Changkyun was holding Kihyun’s hand tightly as they watched Hoseok hit the ball. Once the ball started flying towards Hyunwoo, Kihyun would squeeze Changkyun’s hand and they would run towards the bases. Changkyun would squeal in delight every time he would run and everyone around them couldn’t help but smile at how cute the youngest was being. But maybe a little too distracted as no one saw Changkyun’s hand slip out from Kihyun’s hand as he was flailing his arms too much and ended up tripping over the base and falling. Kihyun was quick to try and catch the toddler but Changkyun scraped his knees on the ground and started crying. Everyone ran towards the pair as Kihyun was trying to calm the toddler. Hyunwoo had grabbed the diaper bag and took out the wipes to help clean off the dirt and blood. Hoseok knelt next to his brother and pouted.

“Kyunnie, hyungie is sorry. Please don’t cry! Mean ‘old base” slightly smacking the bag on the ground. This helped make Changkyun smile as he leaned in to Kihyun’s embrace. Kihyun’s parents were on teeball duty that day and came running over to help assist the situation. They carried Changkyun over to the bench and put some bandaids on his scrapes. Changkyun pouted as he looked at his friends.

“Kyunnie sowwy. Kyunnie just wanna pay wif Hyungie but Kyunnie still too wittle” he sniffled and leaned in to Kihyun’s mom’s arms. Everyone surrounded them and shook their heads, especially Hoseok.

“No Kyunnie, hyungie is sorry. Hyungie was supposed to protect you but I let that mean ole base get you. Can you forgive hyungie?” Hoseok pouted and Hyunwoo had to hold back his laughter. Kihyun smiled and leaned in closer to Changkyun.

“Kyunnie, why don’t we make hyungie jump on that mean ‘ole base for you? Will that make you feel better?” Changkyun looked up at the older and nodded slowly. Hoseok smiled and ran towards the base. He started jumping up and down, yelling at the bag which caused everyone to laugh, including Changkyun. Kihyun sat next to his mom on the bench and held Changkyun’s hand while the others went back to playing. Minhyuk joined Hoseok’s team as they played Jooheon and Hyunwoo. Kihyun was giving Changkyun a play by play as Changkyun cheered for Hoseok. At one point, Minhyuk hit the ball towards Jooheon and Hyunwoo was running to make sure his brother didn’t get hit but to everyone’s surprise, Jooheon caught the ball and everyone cheered. Even Minhyuk and Hoseok ran towards the younger and celebrated with him. Kihyun and Changkyun were clapping from the bench as Changkyun giggled.

“Kyunnie happy hyungie brough Kyunnie wif him today” he smiled up at Kihyun’s mom and Kihyun reached over to take his hand.

“Kihyunnie is happy you came too, Kyunnie” Changkyun smiled at the older and squeezed his hand.

“Kyunnie also happy hyungie met Ki-hyungie. Kyunnie like having Ki-hyungie as his hyungie too” Kihyun’s mom awed at the exchange as Kihyun leaned in and kissed Changkyun’s cheek.

“Kihyunnie likes being Kyunnie’s hyung too” Hoseok was watching their exchange and pouted as he ran over.

“Hey hey hey. Hyungie wants kisses too. Why are my brothers kissing?” he huffed and put his hands on his hips. Kihyun and Changkyun looked at each other before laughing at the oldest. Changkyun reached his hands towards the older and Hoseok leaned in to let Changkyun kiss his cheek.

“Kyunnie love hyungie, no wowwy” he nodded and smiled as Hoseok smiled back and kissed Changkyun’s cheek as well.

“And hyungie loves Kyunnie, always” he reached his hand towards Kihyun who took it and leaned in to kiss Hoseok’s other cheek.

“And Kihyunnie loves you both” everyone laughed and Kihyun’s mother sighed at how sweet they all were being. Even if the day wasn’t perfect, their bond was going to pull them through anything. 

The last day of summer was spent playing outside and eating lots of yummy food. Kihyun was practicing his reading skills to Changkyun who sat in Hoseok’s lap. The three of them were in their own little world for the most part and the parents agreed to leave them alone. Looking over at Hyunwoo and Minhyuk, there were busy preparing Jooheon for his first day. Jooheon was holding Minhyuk’s hand while listening intently to their stories. At one point Jooheon started to get distracted and looked down at their hands. Hyunwoo did his best to quiet Minhyuk’s story as he crouched down and forced Jooheon to look at him.

“What’s wrong little buddy? Are you tired? You’ve got a big day tomorrow” Hyunwoo smiled at the younger who just sighed and nodded.

“Yeah hyung I tired. I’ll head inside now” he hugged Minhyuk and walked away from the two older boys to find his mom. Hyunwoo watched him walk away and sighed as their mother took Jooheon’s hand and walked him inside. The get together didn’t last much longer and soon enough Hyunwoo was drying his hair with a towel as he walked past Jooheon’s room. He stopped and peered inside to see that Jooheon was holding a book in his lap and was struggling to read the title. Hyunwoo smiled and pushed the door open to let himself in. 

“Want some help, Joo?” he sat next to the younger who looked up at him in surprise and nodded, handing over the book.

“I was trying to see if I could figure it out so that I don’t look silly tomorrow, hyung. But I guess I will just look silly…” Jooheon sighed and leaned his head on the olders arm. Hyunwoo shook his head and smiled down at the younger.

“Don’t worry Joo, no one is going to think you are silly because you can’t read the book yet. That’s the whole point of getting a reading partner so that they can help you”

“And what if my partner doesn’t like me, hyung?” Jooheon pulled his head back to look up at his older brother.

“They would be crazy not to love you, Joo. You’re amazing. And who knows, you might even get Minhyukkie or Kihyunnie as your partner. And they both love you” Hyunwoo punctuated his statement by lightly tapping Jooheon’s nose as the younger giggled then yawned as sleep was overtaking him.

“Hyung is right. I hope I get one of them so that I can stay with you hyung” his eyes slowly started closing as Hyunwoo shifted to let them both lay down in Jooheon’s bed. He reached over and turned off the light then got comfortable laying with his brother.

“Me too, Joo. Me too!” Hyunwoo whispered as he kissed his brothers forehead and fell asleep with Jooheon. 

Summer ended and the new school year began. The boys were back in the familiar building of fifth years, third years and first years. And as fate would allow, when Minhyuk’s name was called, he skipped over to the first year teacher who led him over to Jooheon. Both boys laughed loudly as they jumped up to hug each other. The first year teacher smiled as he told Minhyuk to sit with Jooheon as they moved on with the rest of the pairings. Minhyuk threw his arm around Jooheon as they both looked over to see who Kihyun was going to be paired with. After the longest few minutes of their little lives, Kihyun’s name was called and he walked over to the first year teacher who gently took him to a table behind Jooheon and Minhyuk. Both boys turned and followed their friend’s movement as they watched Kihyun smile and shake hands with his new reading partner. Minhyuk leaned down and whispered to Jooheon.

“Do you know who that is Joo?” Jooheon stared a little too hard at the young boy Kihyun was talking to and nodded his head.

“I do, he sat next to me at lunch and we shared our snacks. But I don’t remember his name…” he pouted as he looked back up at Minhyuk. Minhyuk just smiled and patted Jooheon’s shoulder.

“No worries, Joo. Kihyunnie will tell us soon” they sat quietly and waited for the teachers to give them further instructions. When it was time to get to know each other, Minhyuk dragged Jooheon by the hand over to where Kihyun was. “Hi, my names Minhyuk and this is Joo, he’s your classmate. What’s your name?” Kihyun shook his head at his best friend’s eagerness but smiled as his partner stood to face the new pair.

“My name’s Hyungwon, it’s very nice to meet you Minhyuk-hyung. Joo, I think we ate lunch together, no?” Jooheon smiled and nodded eagerly.

“Why don’t we all sit down?” Kihyun offered as he pointed to the chairs at their table as they spent the following couple of minutes getting to know Hyungwon and then when the teacher announced, they started reading their books to each other. Kihyun could hear Minhyuk and Jooheon giggling to each other at the story but he tried to focus and make sure he was making the story fun for Hyungwon. Every time Kihyun would look up at Hyungwon, he would see the younger smiling up at him. Kihyun felt this wave of happiness wash over him at the youngers smile. He couldn’t wait to tell Hoseok.

That didn’t take long. Walking out of their third year class, they could see Hyunwoo and Hoseok waiting for Minhyuk and Kihyun, excited to hear about their new partners. Hoseok took Kihyun’s hand into his own but before he could ask Minhyuk started yelling about getting paired with Jooheon. Hyunwoo smiled and shook his head at his partner as they walked over to the first year classroom to pick up Jooheon as they had instructed him earlier this morning to wait for his big brother. Kihyun was telling Hoseok about Hyungwon in a much softer tone than Minhyuk was speaking about Jooheon but Hoseok still listened to every word from the younger. As they reached the classroom, Hyunwoo peered inside to see Jooheon sitting on top of his desk swinging his legs while talking to a friend. The rest of the boys looked inside and Kihyun smiled when he recognized Hyungwon as Jooheon’s friend.

“Hyung, come meet my new best friend Hyungwonnie!” Jooheon waved them over as he jumped off the desk. Hyungwon held out his hands to help catch his friend incase he fell but Jooheon just smiled and giggled at him.Taking his new friends hand they walked over towards the older boys. “Hyungwonnie, this my real hyung, Hyunwoo. This is his best friend Hoseokie-hyung. And you already know Kihyunnie-hyung and Minhyukkie-hyung” Hyungwon looked at all of the older boys and smiled sheepishly while waving at them. 

“My name is Hyungwon, it’s very nice to meet you Hyunwoo-hyung and Hoseok-hyung” Hoseok squeezed Kihyun’s hand gently as he leaned in to ruffle the newest addition to their friend group.

“It’s very nice to meet you as well Hyungwonnie. I guess I am your big brother now too, because I am Kihyunnie’s partner” Hyungwon’s smile grew as he looked up at the older and nodded. The six of them started walking out to meet their parents and Kihyun asked Hyungwon what his parents looked like so that he could help him find them faster. Hoseok made sure to eavesdrop so that he could assist as he was taller than Kihyun and could see some of the parents better. Luckily for them, they didn't have to look for long as someone was saying Hyungwon’s name the moment they walked outside the gate. Kihyun stayed next to Hyungwon as the older woman came up to them.

“Grandma, this is my new reading partner Kihyun-hyung. And his partner Hoseok-hyung. They’re my new friends” Jooheon let Minhyuk’s hand go and ran over next to Hyungwon, pouting.

“Heeey! What about me?” Hyungwon looked over to his classmate and smiled.

“Aaand this is Joo, he’s my new best friend” the older woman nodded in acknowledgment and took Hyungwon’s hand .

“Well it’s very nice to meet all of you. Please take good care of my grandson, Hyungwonnie” Hyungwon looked up at his grandmother and smiled before waving at his friends and turning to leave with his grandmother.

“Wait!!” Hoseok called out, quickly looking for his mother in the crowd as well “We should exchange contact information so that Hyungwon can come play with us” The grandmother stopped and turned around with Hyungwon as Hoseok let Kihyun’s hand go and quickly brought his mother over. The older woman greeted each other and made sure to get each other’s contact information. The boys learned that Hyungwon lived with his grandparents and didn’t get to be around many other his own age so the grandmother was excited that the boys would be wanting to spend time together. Hoseok’s mother reassured the older lady that the kids got together often and that Hyungwon would be in great hands. They all said their goodbyes again and went their separate ways. On the walk home Hoseok took Kihyun’s hand again “So what do we know about our new little friend?”

Kihyun looked up and thought for a second “He said he liked the colors black and white. And he really likes music. He says he wants to be able to read as fast as possible because he wants to read all the books his grandparents bought him” Hoseok nodded at the new information.

“Then he has the perfect partner because you’re an amazing reader. You didn’t need me for your reading partner after a few months. Luckily I won you over with my charm” he raised his eyebrows a few times at the younger who shook his head and smiled.  
“You keep thinking that Hoseokie-hyung” squeezing his hand they laughed softly as they walked to their homes. Hoseok’s mom dropped off the kids to their respective homes and when they got to the Son’s, they picked up Changkyun from Mrs. Son. With both of her sons, they went home. Hoseok filled Changkyun in on their day and the assignments. Changkyun whined that he wanted to be assigned to them when he got to his first year and Hoseok ruffled his hair.

“When the day comes, we will see what happens” he nodded and smiled. Hoseok asked Changkyun to help him make a drawing for Hyungwon since he was their newest addition to their “family”. 

Hyungwon was a great addition to their family. His personality was a lot calmer than Minhyuk’s and Jooheon’s so he helped balance out the craziness. He spent most of his time with Kihyun which in turn meant he spent a good amount of time with Hoseok as well. Hyungwon liked it the most when Hoseok would give him piggy back rides around the park whenever they got together to play ball. Kihyun would carry Changkyun as well whenever the toddler joined them so that he didn’t feel left out. And poor Hyunwoo had Minhyuk and Jooheon running around as he tried to keep them from hurting themselves. The parents all agreed their favorite moments were when the six children would sit down and do their homework together. Hyunwoo and Hoseok would help each other with their assignments while Kihyun and Minhyuk would read to Hyungwon and Jooheon. It was always funny to see when Hoseok would try to help Kihyun with his math homework and Kihyun would end up correcting him and showing the older the correct way to do the math problem. Hoseok would get embarrassed but Kihyun would shine that bright smile up to him and tell him everything was okay and Hoseok would forget why he was getting embarrassed in the first place. 

To say that these boys were extremely attached to each other would be putting it lightly. Many outsiders of the town would call this program “The Soulmate Program” as it really did produce these amazingly close relationships that were difficult to break. To make things easier on Hyungwon’s grandparents, Hyungwon would spend the night often at Kihyun’s house but the whole family including their parents would go to Hyungwon’s every Sunday morning for brunch with his grandparents. Their carpool arrangements were getting to be a little more difficult with now six children going to different places (sometimes seven when Changkyun joined) so they would double up on the parent duty but seeing how happy they children were to be together, no one complained. Most of their free time was spent either at the park or at Hyunwoo’s and Hoseok’s house since they lived closest together. 

Our first big outing for a family was spent at a beach during their summer. Hyunwoo and Hoseok were going to be entering their final year in elementary school while Minhyuk and Kihyun would be entering their fourth year. Jooheon and Hyungwon would be going into their second year so thankfully all six boys would still be together in the same building. According to their parents, this was cause for celebration so they packed themselves up and went to the beach, renting a loft for all of them to stay at for a weekend. Setting up the blankets and tents out on the sand, the kids were all eager to get into the water and start building sand castles. Minhyuk’s parents helped get the floatation devices on the younger ones who weren't strong swimmers yet and made sure everyone had sunblock on. Hyunwoo was put in charge to watch over Jooheon who kept insisting that he wanted to swim with Minhyuk so Hyunwoo would pull the both of them on their blow up rings. Kihyun offered to stay on the sand and help Changkyun with his castle and Hoseok nodded before he started to follow Hyunwoo into the water. Hyungwon looked back and forth between the two and started to sigh before he sat down next to Kihyun. Kihyun looked up and tapped the younger.

“I thought you wanted to swim Hyungwonnie?” he nodded his head towards the water and Hyungwon;s eye looked up towards the vast body of water and nodded as well. 

“I do, Kihyun-hyung. But I don’t know how” the younger pouted slightly and Kihyun was quick to stand up and wave at Hoseok.

“Hoseokie-hyung, can you come back please?” Hoseok stopped mid stride and rushed back to land to see what the younger wanted. Kihyun explained that Hyungwon wanted to go in but was a little nervous. Hoseok smiled and nodded before offering his hand down to the younger.

“Hyungwonnie, want to come with hyung? I’m a great swimmer so I promise I won’t let anything happen to you” he smiled brightly at Hyungwon who looked up between Hoseok and Kihyun. Kihyun nodded,

“He really is a great swimmer Hyungwonnie. You’ll have fun with hyung” Kihyun motioned for Hyungwon to take Hoseok’s hand. Hyungwon finally nodded and took Hoseok’s hand and dusted off the sand. Hoseok smiled and leaned down to kiss Changkyun’s head then Kihyun’s cheek.

“We’ll be back” he waved and so did Hyungwon as they moved to the water. Hoseok checked and double checked that Hyungwon was secure in his flotation device before slowly taking the younger into the water. You could hear Jooheon and Minhyuk giggling during their water fight as Hyunwoo groaned but continued to pull them around. After a while, a new pair of giggles could be heard from Hoseok and Hyungwon as the younger got comfortable in the water and started to play around with Hoseok. Kihyun smiled from the beach at the others before going back to building with Changkyun. 

“Ki-hyungie, can Kyunnie ast you sometin?” the toddler held the plastic shovel in his hands as he looked up to the older. Kihyun smiled and nodded to the younger. “Kyunnie wanna swim too but Kyunnie scawed. Can Ki-hyungie and Kyunnie sit closer to water?” the youngers eyes got wider as he looked towards the water where he could see the others playing. Kihyun followed the youngers eyes and stayed quiet for a second before standing and dusting himself off.

“Not too close Kyunnie but let’s go get our feet wet, okay?” Kihyun smiled and offered his hand to the younger, helping him up and getting rid of most of the sand covering him. They held hands and walked closer to the water, letting the waves push up the beach and gently run over their feet. Kihyun held Changkyun’s hand tighter every time the water got closer and Changkyun would giggle and stomp his feet in the water, splashing them both. The five boys in the water would look up at the giggle coming from Changkyun and smile fondly at the youngest. Kihyun noticed everyone looking towards them and crouched down to point it out to the younger. Changkyun looked towards them and smiled brightly, waving his free hand big in the air at the older kids in the water. Hoseok held Hyungwon close as they both waved back to Changkyun.

“Kihyun-hyung really likes Changkyun, huh?” Hyungwon whispered only loud enough for Hoseok to hear. Hoseok looked at the younger in his arms and nodded.

“He does. But Kihyunnie likes Hyungwonnie too though. We all do” Hoseok smiled, trying to reassure the younger. Hyungwon looked back and forth between them and rested his head against Hoseok’s shoulder.

“Will Kihyun-hyung come swim with Hoseok-hyung and I?” Hyungwon held on to Hoseok’s swim shirt tighter. Hoseok hummed and started swimming them closer to shore where Kihyun and Changkyun were.

“Why don’t we ask him?” he smiled as he was able to place Hyungwon down as they had gotten to the shallow part where Hyungwon could stand. Taking the youngers hand they walked towards Kihyun and Changkyun. “Hey, you two. You can’t be having all the fun by yourselves” he fake pouted as Changkyun giggled and reached for his brother.

“Hyung!! The water not scawy. Look, it likes Kyunnie” Changkyun kicked his feet and splashed the four of them. Kihyun laughed as Hoseok wiped the water off of his face.

“That’s great Kyunnie. Do you wanna come in with hyung?” Kihyun raised his eyebrows towards the older but before he could argue Hoseok looked to him and smiled “Don’t worry Kihyunnie, you said yourself. I’m a great swimmer. And we’ll all go together” Hoseok nodded towards Kihyun and Changkyun gently pulled on Kihyun’s arm.

“Can we go Ki-hyungie? Peaseee?” Kihyun looked down at the youngest and saw the biggest puppy eyes he had ever seen. Sighing he nodded and smiled.

“Okay okay but not too far” he looked back to Hoseok who nodded in agreement.

“Here, let me take Kyunnie and you can help Hyungwonnie. He’s gotten really good and wants to show you” Hoseok nudged Hyungwon towards Kihyun who reached his free hand out towards the younger. Hyungwon smiled and took Kihyun’s hand as Kihyun carefully passed Changkyun to Hoseok. Hoseok took Changkyun into his arms and rested him on his hip. Using his free hand he held it out for Hyungwon’s free hand and the four of them started moving deeper into the water. Once they got the part where Hyungwon couldn’t stand anymore he held on to Kihyun’s hand tighter but started kicking his feet and moving his hand out of Hoseok’s hold and used his arm to keep himself up. Of course the vest he was wearing was helping but it was still cute to see him trying. Kihyun gently pulled Hyungwon to swim in front of him as they stopped.

“You’re doing a great job, Hyungwonnie” Kihyun smiled as Hyungwon blushed and nodded.

“Thank you, Kihyun-hyung. Hoseok-hyung was a great help” they both looked over to Hoseok who was splashing around with Changkyun. Kihyun smiled at the view and nodded as he pulled Hyungwon a little closer.

“He is great, isn’t he?” Kihyun blushed slightly at his own words and Hyungwon nodded in agreement. 

“I think Kihyun-hyung is great too, though” Hyungwon reached his free hand out to take hold of both of Kihyun’s hands. Kihyun looked back to Hyungwon and smiled.

“Thank you Hyungwonnie. I think you’re great and I am so happy you joined our family” Kihyun leaned in but hesitated “Would it be okay if I kissed you?” he whispered so that Hoseok and Changkyun wouldn’t hear. Hyungwon felt his face flush as he nodded. Kihyun smiled and leaned in, kissing Hyungwon’s forehead. Changkyun happened to look over at that exact moment and gasped.

“Ki-hyungie kist Wonnie-hyungie!” Changkyun giggled as Hoseok looked over and pouted.

“Heeeey what about me?” Hyungwon blushed even more and with Kihyun’s help, swam towards Hoseok who carefully leaned down while holding Changkyun and kissed Hyungwon’s forehead. Changkyun puckered his lips as well and Hoseok laughed as he leaned the toddler down to kiss Hyungwon too. Once word got to Minhyuk that kisses were being shared he instructed Hyunwoo to swim them over so they could join in as well. If anyone once tried to doubt their friendship, this moment would solidify any and all doubts.  

After a while, the parents called them all in to eat. Hoseok carried a half asleep Changkyun over to their mother who laughed and took her youngest. Playing with the big boys must have worn him out because he wasn’t awake long enough to each lunch with everyone. When they were done stuffing their faces, the six boys went to play ball with a couple of their dads. Time past smoothly and they had all eaten dinner and showered and were now setting up their blankets and pillows to sleep together. Changkyun sadly was already asleep with his mother so the other six arranged themselves accordingly. Hyungwon and Jooheon were in the center, Kihyun and Minhyuk behind them then Hoseok and Hyunwoo following making sure the older two were on the edges for protection, at least that’s what Jooheon ordered them to do. Not that anyone was putting up a fight in their arrangements. 

While everyone else had fallen asleep, Kihyun tossed a bit and accidentally nudged Hoseok awake. Hoseok groaned slightly as he heard the younger whisper his apologies. He gently opened his eyes and let them adjust to the darkness before they focused on Kihyun who was fidgeting with his fingers on top of the blanket. Hoseok reached over and placed his hand on top of the youngers and smiled, whispering to him.

“What’s got you all worried Kihyunnie?”

“I was just thinking hyung. This year is going to be our last year at school together. Next year, you and Hyunwoo-hyung will move on to middle school… what are we going to do?” Kihyun tugged at his bottom lip with his teeth gently as Hoseok squeezed the youngers hands and maneuvered them so that he could thread his fingers with the others.

“Kihyunnie, that’s a year away. You don’t have to worry, we’ll face it when the time comes. Besides even if Hyunwoo and I are at a different school, we’ll still see you every day like we do now. You can’t get rid of me” he leaned in and breathed against the others ear, knowing fully well that the other hated that and squirmed, gently pushing the older away from him and holding back his laughter.

“I try, but you keep coming back” he shook his head and smiled at the older’s pout.

“You want to get rid of me?” he fake sniffled and Kihyun shook his head before leaning back in towards the older and kissed his cheek.

“Couldn’t get rid of you even if I wanted to. You’re mine, remember?”

“Yes I know” Hoseok smiled and leaned in to return the kiss but Kihyun shifted and they accidentally brushed their lips together instead of Hoseok kissing his cheek. Both boys turned red real quick and Kihyun removed his hand from the others hold and covered his mouth. 

“Hyung!!” 

“Kihyunnie I am so sorry. It was an accident” Hoseok waved his hands in front of his face “I promise I won’t do it again”

“You promise?!” Kihyun raised an eyebrow at the younger as he dropped his hands and looked to lace his fingers with the older again.

“I promise!” Hoseok smiled and nodded to the younger. Kihyun nodded in return and shifted to lean in closer to Hoseok. Silence fell over them as they both started to drift back to sleep.

“Thank you hyung” Kihyun whispered once he though Hoseok was asleep but as he closed his eyes to finally let sleep take over, Hoseok opened his eyes and looked at Kihyun with a big smile on his face.

“Anything for you Kihyunnie” he whispered back and placed a gentle kiss on the youngers cheek. 

Summer ended and school began. As sixth years, fourth years and second years, they were all together in the same building for one last time. Hyunwoo and Hoseok would walk the youngest two to their classroom before heading to drop off of Minhyuk and Kihyun in their classroom. At lunch time, Hoseok would pick up Minhyuk and Kihyun while Hyunwoo would pick up Jooheon and Hyungwon. The six would gather at the same table and eat together every day. And every afternoon, they would wait for each other to walk out and meet up with whichever parental unit was picking them up that day. The repetition was good for them. They were all settled in their lives and didn’t want anything to disturb what they had. Unfortunately life does not always play the cards that you want them to and a rock was thrown into their perfect little world. Hoseok’s dad was coaching the high school baseball team and they played well enough to make into the playoffs. One of the playoff games was going to be in Jeju and Hoseok’s father wanted to take his wife and sons away for a four day weekend. When Hoseok heard the news, he expected that the others would be coming with them but his little heart broke when his mother shook her head and said that this would just be the four of them but that he’d see the others as soon as they returned. Hoseok threw a fit and ran to his room, slamming his door. Changkyun watched and decided to copy his brother, going in to his own room and attempting to slam the door. Hoseok refused to come out for dessert later, even when they had coaxed Changkyun out of his room and used him to try and persuade Hoseok. Hoseok cried into his pillow at the idea of being separated from the others, crying so hard that he put himself to sleep. The next morning Hyunwoo immediately knew something was wrong when he saw Hoseok step out of the house. He walked up to his best friend, leaving Jooheon with his mom for a second so that they could have a moment together.

“Seok… you okay? You look a little rough” Hyunwoo tried to smile but his face fell when Hoseok shook his head.

“No, but I don’t wanna talk about it yet. Let’s wait until the others are here?” he asked softly, not meeting the others eyes. Hyunwoo nodded and gently rubbed the others back as they started walking to meet up with the others on their way to school. A couple blocks over they met up with Minhyuk, Kihyun and Hyungwon with Minhyuk’s parents and continued the rest of the walk to school. Jooheon babbled on and on about the book he had read last night to Minhyuk while Kihyun watched Hoseok out of the corner of his eye. Even Hyungwon seemed to notice as he tugged on Kihyun’s sleeve gently.

“What’s wrong with Hoseok-hyung?” he nodded his head towards the older and Kihyun shrugged.

“I don’t know Hyungwonnie, maybe we can get him to talk later” Kihyun tried to smile but looked back to the older and sighed. He gently tugged Hyungwon to follow him as they made their way closer to Hoseok. Kihyun slipped his free hand into one of Hoseok’s who got startled and looked down at their hands then back up at Kihyun. Kihyun smiled gently at him and Hoseok held back his tears as he tried to smile back. Once at school, they dropped off Jooheon and Hyungwon before heading to Minhyuk and Kihyun’s class. Kihyun kept a hold of Hoseok’s hand even when they got to the doorway. Hoseok looked down at their hands and back up to Kihyun as Kihyun turned to face the older fully. Kihyun took a step in and tossed his arms around the older’s neck, hugging him close. Hoseok felt his arms rise unconsciously as he wrapped them around the smaller’s waist and hugged him back. Kihyun stepped up on tiptoes to whisper into Hoseok’s ear “Whatever is wrong, I am here for you” Kihyun pulled back just enough to kiss his cheek and tried to hide his blushing face as he quickly pulled back and took Minhyuk’s hand, pulling his friend into the classroom towards their seats before Minhyuk could blurt out anything. Hoseok touched his cheek gently as Hyunwoo smiled and steered his friend towards their classroom.

“You know, whatever happened. We’re all here for you. Kihyunnie especially. Just talk to us” Hyunwoo patted Hoseok’s back as they sat in their seats.

“I know… I will. At lunch” he nodded and tried to focus on class instead of the tingling feeling on his cheek. 

Time seemed to drag that day for all six of the boys as they waited impatiently for lunch to arrive. As per usual, Hoseok went to pick up Kihyun and Minhyuk. The two boys were holding their lunch bags while waiting for the older outside of the classroom. Minhyuk looked up and noticed Hoseok so he nudged Kihyun. Kihyun looked over and smiled sweetly at Hoseok. Both boys took one of Hoseok’s hands as they walked out to go find their table. Hoseok could tell that Minhyuk was trying to help cheer him up as he normally didn’t hold his hand when they were together but he was grateful for the gesture. As soon as they were all seated at the table and started to go through their lunches, Hoseok could tell that everyone kept glancing at him every now and then. He knew he needed to tell them what was going on but he needed to work up the courage to actually say it. As if he could sense Hoseok’s anxiety, Kihyun reached his hand under the table and gently placed his hand on Hoseok’s lap. Hoseok looked down at the hand and smiled, placing his own on top of the smaller’s hand. He took a deep breath and cleared his throat, gaining everyone’s attention at the table. Hoseok looked in to the eyes of all of his friends and started to tell them the news that his parents had dropped on him last night. 

“So they’re making me leave next Thursday and I won’t be here at school Friday or Monday. They said that we’ll be back Monday night which means I won’t see you guys until Tuesday and it’s not fair. We’ve never spent this much time apart and I don’t want to go and they won’t listen. I even begged them to let me stay with Hyunwoo but they kept complaining that this was a family bonding vacation” he scrunched his face and huffed “But I can’t bond with my family when I am leaving my family here” a tear escaped his eyes as he closed them. Kihyun brought his free hand up and wiped the tear off of the others face. The others all looked around the table, not sure of what to say. They all agreed with Hoseok, they had never been apart from each other and didn’t know how to face this obstacle. 

“Seok… it’ll be okay. We aren’t going anywhere. You know that…” Hyunwoo softly spoke up trying to break the silence. Minhyuk looked up at Hyunwoo and pouted.

“We’re not, but Hoseokie-hyung is going somewhere. I don’t want him to go. I don’t want anyone to go anywhere without us” Minhyuk sniffled and Jooheon leaned in to rub the older’s back.

“I know Minhyukkie, but it’s only for a few days.We’re strong so we can get through this” Hyunwoo nodded to everyone at the table. Hyunwoo caught Kihyun’s eyes and gave him a nod with his head towards Hoseok. Kihyun understood and looked back to Hoseok. He turned his hand under the others and laced their fingers together, giving his hand a squeeze.

“Hyung, we will be okay. We’ll miss you and Kyunnie but you’re going to have fun and when you come back, you’ll have amazing stories to tell all of us” Hyungwon was seated on the other side of Hoseok and nodded to Kihyun’s statement, leaning in closer.

“And we’ll all come over and listen to the stories” Hyungwon looked up to Kihyun who smiled back at the younger. Hoseok sighed softly but looked up at everyone at the table who were all smiling back at the older. He squeezed Kihyun’s hand gently and nodded.

“Okay, but promise you’ll all come over?” he held out his pinky from his free hand. Everyone else at the table nodded and held up their pinkies as well for the promise. Hoseok sniffled but smiled as he sat back and went on eating his lunch with his friends. Kihyun never let go of the others hand, eating with only one hand for the rest of their lunch. 

The following days leading up to Hoseok’s departure, they all made sure to spend time focusing on Hoseok. And it was clear that Kihyun was sticking to his side at all times to keep a smile on the older’s face. Hoseok noticed as well but wasn’t going to complain, afraid that it would make the younger back off. Kihyun and Hyungwon would plan little surprises for Hoseok at lunch time. Hyunwoo and Jooheon would stay as late as possible at Hoseok’s house until their mother was dragging them out of the house. And Minhyuk made sure to ask for piggy back rides at all times as he knew Hoseok loved giving them, showing off how strong he was. The night before he was to leave, they were all laying on blanket in the park watching Hoseok spin around with Minhyuk on his back. Minhyuk was giggling and shouting random things while everyone else was laughing at the pair. Kihyun was physically getting nervous as he watched them continue, fiddling his fingers in his lap.

“OKAY OKAY!!” he tried to shout over the noise “Hoseokie-hyung that’s enough” Kihyun stood and pouted as he crossed his arms. Hoseok stopped even with Minhyuk whining and gently put the younger down.

“Sorry Kihyunnie, we’re done” he smiled as he walked back over to the group. Minhyuk glomped on to Kihyun and kissed his cheek causing Kihyun to make a face and the others to laugh.

“Kihyunnie, were you jealous?” Minhyuk teased as he poked at Kihyun’s side. Kihyun’s eyes widened as he gently pushed the other off of him and looked down at the ground.

“I am not! I just didn’t want you guys to get hurt…” his voice tapered off in volume as his fingers started fiddling with each other again as everyone cooed at him. Hoseok gave them all a stare to stop as he walked up and placed his hand on top of Kihyun’s to make them stop.

“It’s okay Kihyunnie. Thank you for looking out for us” Hoseok smiled down at the younger as he looked up and locked their eyes. Kihyun smiled back and laced their fingers together, gently pulling the older to come and relax on the blanket with the others. The sun was starting to set as they all laid there and spoke about nonsensical things; what shows they were watching, what their classmates had done in class. Anything to distract from what was about to happen. As it got darker, their parents on duty called for them to head to the vans. Everyone stood up and started saying their “see you laters” to each other. Kihyun Hyungwon and Minhyuk would be going with Kihyun’s mom while the other three were going with Hyunwoo and Jooheon’s mom. Hoseok hugged Minhyuk and Hyungwon longer than usual and they all promised to see each other soon. Kihyun was last and everyone seemed to get the hint and backed off. Minhyuk took Hyungwon’s hand and they started walking to their car while Hyunwoo took Jooheon’s hand and started walking as well. Hoseok tried to smile down at Kihyun but the younger shook his head and took both of the olders hands.

“You don’t have to force yourself. I know you’re upset. But it really will be ok. These four days will fly and then you’ll be back and we’ll all be waiting for you” Kihyun squeezed the older’s hands.

“You know, I’m the older one here. I should be the one with all the wise words” Hoseok joked as he smiled down at the younger. Kihyun laughed softly and shook his head.

“I’ve always been the wiser one here, hyung” he gently nudged the other with his shoulder as they both laughed. “Have lots of fun so that you have lots of stories to tell us, okay?”

“Okay Kihyunnie, take care” Hoseok leaned down and kissed the youngers forehead before giving him a hug. As they pulled back Kihyun waved and turned to join Minhyuk and Hyungwon who were clearly watching them from just a few feet away.Hoseok sighed and turned to join the others in the car and Hyunwoo patted him on the arm.

“Don’t worry, Seok. I’ll watch over Kihyunnie and Hyungwonnie for you” he smiled at his friend and Jooheon giggled.

“Me too, Hoseokie-hyung!” Hoseok laughed at them and nodded, thanking them both. He knew in the back of his mind that he was being a little over dramatic but he couldn’t help it. He didn’t like the thought of being apart from everyone. But he trusted them enough that nothing would happen that affect them. He went home that night and asked Changkyun if he would sleep with the younger that night which of course the four year old agreed. They played with some dinosaurs until it was time to shower then head to bed. They had to wake up early for their flight and neither of the Shin boys were morning people so their mother knew it was going to be difficult. Hoseok laid in bed cuddling with Changkyun as he looked out the window at the moon. He sighed and smiled softly as he replayed Kihyun’s words in his head ‘We’ll all be waiting for you’ Hoseok liked that idea of Kihyun waiting for him to return. He fell asleep with a smile on his face that night.

True to Kihyun’s words, the time away flew by. He missed the boys every night when they got back to their hotel room but his mother made sure to keep their days packed with schedules as to keep his mind busy. When at the playoff games, Hoseok looked to see if he could spot other groups that were with their partners but since they were now out of their town, it wasn’t the same. He watched how these other groups of friends interacted with each other and he made a few mental notes of what he wanted to bring back to his family. The flight home took much longer than Hoseok remembered it took to get there originally and he was itching to get off. He sighed slightly as he realized he still had to wait until the next morning to see everyone but he was at least within walking distance from everyone. He quickly showered then climbed in bed, telling his parents the sooner he fell asleep, the sooner he’d see everyone in the morning. The parents just shook their heads and wished him a goodnight. Little did he know, his parents had already spoken with the other parents and had arranged for all the kids to be at the house before Hoseok woke up. Mrs. Shin laughed as Mrs. Yoo walked in carrying a sleeping Hyungwon.

“He’s already not a morning child, this early wake up call wasn’t his favorite even if he gets to see Hoseok and Changkyun again” she smiled as she tried to wake the child in her arms. Jooheon was holding Minhyuk’s hand as the two jumped up and down in excitement. Hyunwoo kept shushing them before they woke up Hoseok and gave them away. Kihyun’s eyes were trained on Hoseok’s door while they waited patiently to be told they could go in. Mrs. Shin watched the clock, knowing when Hoseok’s alarm was meant to go off. She held a finger to her lips to quiet everyone as she pushed open Hoseok’s door and the kids crept inside. Hyungwon was finally awake and standing on his own. Hyunwoo took his hand and they all made their way towards Hoseok’s bed. Mrs. Shin turned off the alarm before it would make noise and then held up her fingers. ‘5, 4, 3, 2, 1’ she counted down then the kids screamed

“Hoseokie-HYUNG”

Hoseok’s eyes flew open and he immediately sat up in bed. He groaned and wiped at his face, taking a few seconds to adjust to the light and waking up. Jooheon climbed on to the bed and hugged the older.

“Welcome back hyungie!” Jooheon nuzzled his face into Hoseok’s chest as Hoseok realized what was going on. He hugged Jooheon back as the others started making their way onto the bed. It turned into a cuddle pile, especially as Mr. Shin brought in a sleepy Changkyun who clung to Minhyuk the moment he saw the others. The parents cooed at the children.

“It’s almost a shame we have to bring them to school today, don’t you think?” Mr. Shin asked as Mrs. Shin and Mrs. Yoo nodded their heads in agreement. After leaving the kids alone for a bit, they were all called in to have breakfast. While waiting for Hoseok to get dressed for school, Kihyun was standing in the living room holding Changkyun. Changkyun was telling KIhyun about some animals that he saw on the trip and Kihyun just smiled at the younger. Hoseok came out with his collar still messy and Kihyun looked over at him and shook his head.

“What am I going to do with your hyung, Kyunnie. He turned into a mess after leaving me for just a few days” Changkyun laughed and pointed at Hoseok.

“Hyungie missed Kihyunnie-hyungie a looooot” Hoseok stopped in his tracks and widened his eyes as he looked at the other two.

“Hey hey hey, don’t go telling my secrets Kyunnie” he took the younger from Kihyun and kissed his cheek while tickling him. All three laughed as Changkyun wiggled out of his hold and ran back towards the others. Kihyun looked up at Hoseok and smiled before reaching up his hands around Hoseok’s neck to fix the collar.

“Really, hyung. What would you do without me?” Hoseok looked into Kihyun’s eyes and shrugged, smiling.

“I won’t ever have to know. I’ll always be with you” he placed his hands on the others arms and brought them down so that he could hold both of his hands in front of them. “Kyunnie was right though. I missed you” Hoseok leaned down and kissed Kihyun’s forehead. Kihyun blushed and looked down for a second before looking back up into Hoseok’s eyes.

“I missed you too hyung”

“Alright lovebirds, you gotta share. We missed Hoseokie-hyung too” Minhyuk whined as he skipped over and stood next to them. It took a moment for the two of them to break their eye contact before they looked at their friend. Kihyun shook his head and Hoseok wrapped Minhyuk into a headlock as he forcefully kissed the top of his head in different spots.

“You missed me too huh? Huh?!” Hoseok teased as Minhyuk laughed and tried to push the older off.

“Hyuuuuung!” Minhyuk whined as he finally got freed and fixed his uniform and hair “Do I still look okay, Kihyunnie?” he pouted to his best friend. Kihyun smiled and turned to him and helped fix his hair.

“You always look good Minhyukkie” Kihyun smiled and Minhyuk returned the smile.

“I know!” he took Kihyun’s hand and pulled him back to group as Hoseok pouted but followed them as well. Once they all had their shoes and bags, they headed out to school.

They spent the next two days listening to all the fun stories from Hoseok’s trip. It really seemed like the older had some fun as much as he tried to say that he didn’t want to go. Hyungwon clung to Hoseok a little more than usual for the next week and no one questioned the younger. They all just assumed he had missed the older’s presence just as much as Kihyun had since they were really close. One night walking home, Hyungwon was holding both Kihyun’s and Hoseok’s hands. When they got to the split where Kihyun Hyungwon and Minhyuk go one way and the others go a different way, Hyungwon refused to let go of Hoseok’s hand. The younger started to tear up after a few tries of convincing him to let go and this startled everyone. Kihyun crouched down in front of Hyungwon and quickly wiped at his tears.

“Hyungwonnie, what’s wrong?” he whispered incase the younger was embarrassed about the situation. Hyungwon sniffled and squeezed Hoseok’s hand tighter.

“I don’t want Hoseok-hyung to leave again”  
“But Hyungwonnie, he isn’t going anywhere. Hyung is here to stay” Kihyun said slightly confused as he looked back up to Hoseok. Hoseok shrugged and pouted as he crouched down next to Kihyun to get at Hyungwon’s height.

“But hyung liked being there. If he liked it… maybe he’ll want to go and never come back” Hyungwon started crying a little harder which shocked everyone. Kihyun wrapped his arms around the younger and ran his hand through the others hair to try and calm him. Hoseok joined the hug as he looked over to the moms for help. Apparently Mrs. Lee had an idea of what was going on and immediately called Hyungwon’s grandma. After speaking with her and texting to the parent group chat, she steered the whole group towards Hyungwon’s house. There was a story that needed to be told to the group to explain Hyungwon’s reaction. Hoseok picked up Hyungwon and carried him as the younger held onto him and slowly stopped crying on the walk. When they all arrived at Hyungwon’s place, his grandma had brought out some snacks and drinks as his grandpa took Hyungwon from Hoseok to calm him down in the other room. Mrs. Lee and Mrs. Son helped get the kids seated so that they could listen to the story.

Unfortunately, Hyungwon’s parents were really young when they had Hyungwon and weren’t exactly ready to be parents yet. After the first year of trying to raise him, they didn’t want to be parents anymore and left Hyungwon to his grandparents as they ran off to another country to continue living their lives. Hyungwon didn’t know the whole story of why they left, just that they had left and weren’t going to come back for him. His grandma explained that Hyungwon was probably worried that Hoseok was going to leave like his parents had. Hoseok was on the verge of tears as he shook his head adamantly.

“I won’t! I swear I won’t leave him or anyone” Hyungwon’s grandma smiled at the kids and nodded.

“I know that honey. Hyungwonnie just needs to be reassured”

“Mrs. Hyungwon’s grandma, can Hyungwonnie sleepover?” Jooheon asked as he stood and walked towards the older lady. Mrs. Son tried to stop her youngest but the others started chiming in as well with pleads and agreements.

“If your mother says it’s okay, then I am okay with it. I can pack his things” she started to rise and Mrs. Son shook her head to stop her.

“Let us help” she smiled as she stood and followed Hyungwon’s grandmother. Mrs. Lee asked the kids to help clean up their mess with the snacks and drinks as Hyungwon came out holding his grandfather’s hand. When he saw Hoseok, he let his grandpa’s hand go and ran towards the older. Hoseok crouched down to catch him and wrapped the younger up in his arms and held him close.

“Does Hyungwonnie want to come sleepover? We can play with legos and dinosaurs all you want?” Hoseok whispered to the kid in his arms. Hyungwon pulled back and nodded, smiling softly at the older.

“I would like that” Hyungwon spoke softly. Hoseok smiled back at him and kissed the youngers forehead. Kihyun walked over and rubbed Hyungwon’s back while they waited for Hyungwon’s overnight bag. Mrs. Lee called Kihyun’s parents to ask if he could spend the night as well. Of course they agreed and she said she was going to run and get Minhyuk’s and Kihyun’s overnight bags. Mrs. Son walked out and gathered the kids together. She asked Hyunwoo to hold on to Minhyuk and Jooheon’s hands while she held Kihyun’s hand and Hoseok carried Hyungwon on their walk to their house. Once they got there and settled, all seven children, including Changkyun, were in a circle building with the blocks. Mrs. Son took a picture of them all and sent it to the parental group chat. No matter what life was going to throw at these boys, they were going to face it head on together as one. 

The school year ended and summer was upon them. The family celebrated Hyunwoo and Hoseok graduating elementary school more times than necessary. Any excuse for party was enough for them. Another beach trip came and went with Hyungwon swimming next to Kihyun as Hoseok taught Changkyun to float on his own and Hyunwoo convinced Jooheon and Minhyuk not to splash each other at all times. Long summer days were spent playing at the park and eating lots of yummy foods. Everyone tried to ignore the elephant in the room; Hyunwoo and Hoseok would be attending a different school from the others this year. There would be no more lunches together as six. Yes there would be two new additions to their family as Hyungwon and Jooheon were going to be third years but the two new additions could not and would not replace Hyunwoo and Hoseok. Minhyuk was the first to bring it up one day but only to Kihyun. Kihyun sighed and nodded as he heard the words fall from his best friends mouth. He looked up towards the older two then leaned in to keep their conversation between the two of them.

“I’m worried too Minhyukkie. I don’t want things to change” Minhyuk nodded and rested his head on Kihyun’s shoulder.

“What is they make new friends at the big school?”

“I don’t think that’s possible Minhyukkie. They haven’t shown any interest in others at school before”

“But this is middle school, Kihyunnie. They’ll have clubs to join” 

“I know, I know. I trust Hoseokie-hyung and Hyunwoo-hyung. But I still worry. I like the way things are now”

“Me too! And what about our morning routine. They won’t be able to walk with us anymore. Wait!” Minhyuk’s eyes widened as he sat up and looked dead at Kihyun.

“What?!”

“I am going to be the oldest now! I can’t take care of everyone!!” Minhyuk pouted as Kihyun held back a laugh.

“You still have me silly. I can help with that. You just have to listen to me!” he poked his friends side to make him smile and stop pouting at him. Minhyuk nodded slowly and moved to rest his head back on the other’s shoulder.

“Do you think they’ll miss us?”

“I hope so…” Kihyun sighed as he looked over and caught Hoseok’s eyes. Hoseok smiled and waved at the younger who returned the wave and nudged Minhyuk up. “Come on, no more sad talk. Let’s go play” taking Minhyuk’s hand they stood and walked over to join the rest of the group, not meaning to have strayed. Hoseok reached a hand out and took Kihyun’s free hand as Minhyuk let go and moved to stand next to Hyunwoo. Kihyun watched as Minhyuk nudged the older’s shoulder and Hyunwoo put his arm around the younger. He looked back to Hoseok and smiled.

“Everything okay with you two?” Hoseok asked softly “You guys looked really serious for a second” Kihyun laughed softly and nodded.

“Everything is fine” Hoseok waiting a second before nodding back. He squeezed the younger’s hand gently as they went back to what they were doing. On the walk back home that day Hoseok held on to Kihyun’s hand as usual and passed Hyungwon’s hand over to Hyunwoo. Hoseok walked a little slower to pull him and Kihyun behind the group slightly as he looked down at the other.

“Wanna tell me what was going on earlier?” Kihyun froze for a second which tugged at Hoseok. Kihyun apologized and started walking again but stayed silent. “Kihyunnie, I can hear you thinking. What’s bothering you?” Hoseok pouted and whined slightly. KIhyun sighed and squeezed Hoseok’s hand.

“Well you said we’d face it when the time comes. Time has come now hyung”

“Time for what Kihyunnie?”

“You and Hyunwoo are leaving us…” his broke at the end and he closed his eyes to reel back his emotions. Hoseok stopped and pulled Kihyun back to him.

“I told you, Kihyunnie. I am never leaving you” he brought his free hand up to cup the younger’s cheek. “I know things will be different but I won’t leave you, I promise”

“Can you promise that though, hyung? You’re going to meet lots of new people once you start joining clubs. Clubs meet after school so you won’t get to see us as much”

“Then I won’t join any clubs”

“You can’t do that hyung. You have to join clubs” Kihyun laughed softly and shook his head at the older “I just.. I don’t know how to it’s going to be without you around as much”

“I’ll be around as much as I can be, you know that. Even if I am waking up earlier just to see you guys off to school” they both laughed at that, knowing Hoseok was not a morning person. But the joke helped ease Kihyun’s mind. Kihyun smiled softly and nodded, leaning in a for a hug.

“Thank you hyung. I know we’ll work things out somehow. I just have to adjust” he nodded against the older as Hoseok wrapped his arms around the younger and kissed the top of his head.

“You can always tell me when you miss me too much and I will come over in two seconds Kihyunnie” Kihyun laughed again and pulled back, taking his hand.

“Let’s go before they lose us.. Oh! And you might want to tell Hyunwoo-hyung to have this talk with Minhyukkie too. He’s scared as well” Hoseok nodded as they jogged a little to catch back up with the others. Once at home, Hoseok sat down and thought about all the changes that were going to occur to their family. Not only were Hyunwoo and himself changing schools. Changkyun was starting his first year. And they would be getting two new family members. Or three if Changkyun didn’t get Jooheon or Hyungwon. He trusted that they would be able to work through whatever happened and had to keep telling himself that. He had to be strong for Kihyun. And he knew he needed to be there for Hyungwon as well incase him changing schools affected the younger. He was going to protect his family, no matter what.

First day of school came. Hoseok awoke to Changkyun running around excited about finally going to school with everyone. He smiled softly and ruffled the younger’s hair before getting himself ready. He and Hyunwoo were going to walk with his dad to the middle school since it wasn’t far from the high school where his father worked. It was, however, in a different direction than the elementary school so he wouldn’t get to walk with the others. He shook out that thought and smiled at himself. It was going to be okay. He was fixing his hair when he heard Jooheon at the door to pick up Changkyun. He quickly finished and rushed out to see the younger. Jooheon waved at Hoseok as he helped Changkyun get his school bag on.

“Hi Hoseokie hyung! Hyung is still fixing his hair too but he said he wouldn’t be far behind me” Hoseok smiled and thanked the younger. He turned Changkyun to look at him as he smiled and kissed his brother’s forehead.

“You be good, okay. And I want to hear all about your reading partner when you get home” 

“Yes hyungie. Kyunnie will tell you everything. Unless I get Jooheonnie-hyungie or Hyungwonnie-hyungie then you’ll already know” Changkyun laughed as Hoseok smiled and nodded.

“Kihyunnie said he would meet you for lunch so make sure you stay in the classroom until you see him, ok?”

“Yes hyungie Kyunnie remembers” Changkyun nodded and took Jooheon’s hand. “Time for Kyunnie and Jooheonnie-hyungie to go. See you later hyungie!” both younger boys waved and walked out the house with Jooheon’s mom. Hoseok sighed and grabbed his bag to wait for Hyunwoo. Once Hyunwoo arrived, they went and go Hoseok’s dad before they headed out as well. Hoseok turned in the direction that they use to walk in hopes to maybe see the others down the street but they must have gotten too far by now because he didn’t see them. He knew he’d see them all this afternoon at Hyunwoo’s house but he still hoped he might see them this morning. He hoped they all had a great first day. He hoped he had a great first day.

He had a decent first day. He liked his classes and new teachers. He didn’t get lost trying to find his way around, though this was mostly thanks to following Hyunwoo. The two of them ate lunch together and looked through the pamphlet on clubs. Kihyun was right and he was required to join at least one. Hyunwoo and he agreed that they would chose the same one so that they wouldn’t spend too much time away from their family. He missed his family. Hyunwoo joked that around this time, Minhyuk would be complaining about getting sleepy from eating his lunch and Hyungwon would be asking for Hoseok’s dessert. Hoseok agreed. He couldn’t wait until it was time to leave and see the others. 

His day got immensely better the moment they walked down the street to Hyunwoo’s house and he saw the others. Hyungwon screamed his name and let go of Kihyun’s hand to run towards the older. Hoseok held his arms out to catch the younger and swung him around as he kissed his forehead.

“Hello my Hyungwonnie. Did you miss me?” Hoseok smirked and Hyungwon nodded his head quickly.

“I did! But guess what?! I’m Kyunnie’s reading partner!!” Hyungwon smiled brightly as Hoseok gasped and looked to the group as they had gotten closer. 

“Me too me too!! We both are!!” Jooheon raised his hand as he smiled up at them.

“You both are?” Hyunwoo questioned as he ruffled his younger brother’s hair.

“One of the kids assigned to the classroom dropped out for personal reasons so there was an odd number. They apparently asked for volunteers to buddy up together and our two guys said they wanted to work together and got to pick who they wanted because of that” Kihyun added as he took his place next to Hoseok while holding Changkyun’s hand.

“And they picked Kyunnie!!” Changkyun said proudly as he smiled up at his brother. Everyone laughed at the youngest as Kihyun bent down to pick him up to be closer to Hoseok’s height. Hoseok leaned in and kissed the youngest before kissing Kihyun as well.

“I missed you Kihyunnie”

“We missed you too, hyung” Kihyun smiled back and ushered everyone to get inside. Jooheon started with story time of his first day back as they sat together in a circle. Changkyun sat in Kihyun’s lap. Hyungwon sat in Hoseok’s lap. And Minhyuk sat next to Hyunwoo with the older’s arm around him while Jooheon was in the center animatedly telling his story. They all took turns to get up in the center until it got to Kihyun and Hyunwoo who just stayed seated and told their stories. Their catch up session was interrupted with dinner and then Hyungwon and Jooheon took Changkyun to finish reading their first story to him. Minhyuk continued to converse with Hyunwoo about his day and started asking Hyunwoo all about middle school. Kihyun fidgeted his hands in his lap while he watched Hoseok out of the corner of his eye. After realizing Hyunwoo and Minhyuk were going to be in their own world, Kihyun stood and walked towards Hoseok, offering the older his hand. Hoseok looked at the hand and smiled while he took it, lacing their fingers together as they walked off towards Hoseok’s room. Kihyun followed and leaned in, resting his head against the older’s arm as they moved to the bed to sit.

“So be honest, how many times did you think of me today, Kihyunnie?” Hoseok teased, smirking down at the younger. Kihyun played with the others fingers as he held his hand and spoke softly.

“More times that I’d like to admit…” Kihyun blushed at his own words. The atmosphere in the room got serious as Hoseok stayed silent and looked down at the younger. He waited for the younger to relax a little while watching Kihyun play with his hand. “Keeping everyone together wasn’t hard. Everyone listens well. Even Minhyukkie. Kyunnie held my hand the whole time” he laughed softly then raised his head to look up at the other “I can take care of our family, but I wanted you there… and Hyunwoo-hyung too. Minhyukkie smiles brighter when Hyunwoo-hyung is there” he smiled up at Hoseok “Minhyukkie says I do too… when we’re together” Hoseok released a breath he didn’t realize he was holding as he looked in to Kihyun’s eyes. He vowed at that moment to never let Kihyun lose that smile. He brought Kihyun’s hand up to his lips and kissed them gently.

“I missed you too Kihyunnie. I promise to be here as much as I can. I won’t let you or our family down”

“I know you won’t. I’ve never doubted you hyung. I know we’ll get through this together, because we have each other” Kihyun nodded up at the older “We’ll be separated from here on out. In two years, Minhyukkie and I will leave Jooheonnie Hyungwonnie and Kyunnie to join you and Hyunwoo at middle school. And then the following year you’ll move on to high school. The following year Jooheonnie and Hyungwonnie will join me and Minhyukkie. Then we’ll leave them to go to high school. But we’re strong. And we can get through anything together.” Hoseok nodded in agreement. 

The road may be tough in front of them but no matter what, they were going to be there cheering each other on. Hyunwoo and Hoseok joined a dance club at school that met up once a week for a few hours. During those times, the rest of the family would go to the park and wait for the older members to join them afterwards. The boys would always be sweaty from dancing but would never turn down playing one more game of ball with their family. On their other days they would meet up each others houses, sit down and do homework together, eat dinner together. Like this the year flew by. Everyone moved on to their next year in school. As second, fourth, sixth and second years they all promised to stay together as much as possible. If the dance club had a public performance, the five other boys would go to cheer them on. They still attended Mr. Shin’s baseball games every now and then. Sleepovers happened more often on the weekends and especially if there was a shared school holiday. A small bomb decided to go off in their world and give them a little shake. No one quite knew what started the problem or why it escalated as much as it did but the elementary school was called in to an emergency assembly meeting with everyone’s parents called in as well. Minhyuk held on to Kihyun’s hand as a bunch of people they didn’t know were talking about the reading program. Kihyun tried to understand what everyone was talking about but his mind froze on one set of words and he completely zoned out on the rest of their speeches. ‘The program was ending’ Time passed and eventually they were all being sent home early. Kihyun watched as many teachers and parents were visibly upset about this change. He was being pulled by Minhyuk to find Jooheon Hyungwon and Changkyun but he couldn’t tear his eyes off of the upset adults. Changkyun snapped him back to reality when the younger gently pulled on his shirt.

“Ki-hyungie…” the youngest spoke softly up at him. Kihyun looked down and forced a smile on his face as he took the youngest’s hand.

“Hey Kyunnie, let’s go find Mom” the youngest nodded as Kihyun instructed everyone to hold hands and lead the five of them to find Mrs. Shin and Mrs. Lee who he knew had come to the assembly today. Kihyun noticed them first when he saw Mrs. Shin comforting Mrs. Lee. He stopped and turned to tell the group to wait a minute. They moved out of the way of other students as he kept an eye on the parents to wait until it was a good time to come over. His eyes met with Mrs. Shin’s as she nodded towards Kihyun. Kihyun smiled back and reassured everyone. After a few moments Mrs. Shin and Mrs. Lee came to them. Minhyuk could tell his mom had been crying and he immediately threw himself in to her arms to try and cheer her up. Kihyun was quick to take Jooheon and Hyungwon’s hands after Mrs. Shin had picked up Changkyun to keep the group together. There were still lots of students with their parents and teacher inside the assembly hall so Kihyun just wanted to make sure no one got separated. He followed Mrs. Shin out as they moved to the classrooms to pick up their belongings. Kihyun walked Jooheon and Hyungwon to their classroom and waited outside the door. He heard Minhyuk yell from down the hall that he was getting Kihyun’s things as well. He glanced in the opposite direction and saw Mrs.Shin with Changkyun and he nodded to her as Jooheon and Hyungwon walked out with their items. They all joined back together and headed home. The administration of the elementary school was at the entrance and said their farewells to everyone and apologized even more as the parents walked past. Mrs. Lee said she had spoken with Kihyun’s mom and there were going to head there for lunch. The group took the familiar route to Kihyun’s house and he helped the younger one’s get comfortable and got them drinks. He tried to ignore his own mother’s tears as she hugged Mrs. Lee. They were obviously affected by this program ending as it was very important to their friendship. Kihyun was trying his best to be strong for his family but at that moment listening to his mother cry, he wished Hoseok and Hyunwoo were here so that he didn’t have to be the strong one. Mrs. Shin walked by and ruffled Kihyun’s hair slightly, smiling down at him.

“You’re such a mature young man Kihyunnie. But it’s okay, I can take care of the snacks. Why don’t you go spend some time with the boys?” Kihyun appreciated the offer and told Mrs. SHin where everything was in the kitchen before running off to the living room. His four brother were sitting in a circle so he sat behind Changkyun and pulled the younger in to his lap. 

“Kyunnie confused, Ki-hyungie Why aren’t we at school?” Changkyun looked up at him with his big puppy eyes and Kihyun sighed softly.

“They had to cancel our reading partner program Kyunnie. And many of our teachers are upset about losing the program so they wanted to give everyone the day off to calm down” he explained as the group all turned to listen to him.

“What does that mean for us, Kihyunnie-hyung?” Jooheon asked. Kihyun turned a little towards the younger and shrugged.

“I’m not exactly sure Joo. I mean we’re already partners, they can’t take that away”

“Maybe this just means we won’t be getting any new partners. Like Kyunnie won’t get assigned a partner next year” Minhyuk added. Changkyun huffed and crossed his arms. Kihyun smiled and kissed the top of his head.

“That’s okay Kyunnie. This just means you’ll forever be the baby of our family” Changkyun looked up at that and smiled. Kihyun smiled back and looked around at his family. They were perfect as it was and if that meant they wouldn’t be getting any new additions than that was fine with him. The mom’s had put on the news and were watching the reports on the program cancellation. Kihyun tried to listen in but was more focused on keeping his family happy. Mrs. Shin called for them to come eat and he helped them all to the table. After lunch, they moved to Kihyun’s room to color and wait for the older members of their family to arrive after school. Kihyun wondered if word had gotten to the middle school and if Hoseok and Hyunwoo knew what was going on. He watched the clock while he played dinosaurs with Changkyun to pass the time. Minhyuk Jooheon and Hyungwon were building a tower as a knock on the door appeared. The door opened and in walked Hyunwoo and Hoseok as Minhyuk screamed in excitement. His scream startled everyone in the room and caused Jooheon to accidentally knock over their tower. Jooheon and Hyungwon whined at the older as Minhyuk apologized. Hyunwoo quickly made his way over to calm the situation as Hoseok moved towards Kihyun and Changkyun. The youngest held a dinosaur out to Hoseok who took it and kissed the top of the youngest’s head and sat next to them.

“Everything okay here? We heard about the program” Hoseok looked to Kihyun who nodded back to him.

“We got sent home after the announcement and have just been playing ever since. My mom and Minhyukkie’s mom were upset earlier but your mom was calming them down last I saw. I heard on the news they said we might have off tomorrow as well” Kihyun sighed softly. Hoseok nodded and slid over to sit closer to him.

“Do we know how this will affect school for you guys?”

“THey told us that the program will now longer run this year so the third years won’t be going to the first years classroom anymore. But since Kyunnie is a second year already, it won’t affect us. And I don’t think it’ll change our lunches so I still plan on picking Kyunnie up and bringing him to our table”

“But now Kyunnie won’t get a partner…” Changkyun pouted at his big brother. Hoseok smiled and reached towards his brother.

“True, but now you’ll forever be our youngest” Hoseok ruffled Changkyun’s hair who giggled and nodded.

“That’s what Ki-hyungie said” he smiled brightly and went back to playing with his figurines. Hoseok looked to Kihyun and smiled.

“Looks like you got everything under control, Kihyunnie” Kihyun put his dinosaur down and reached over to take Hoseok’s hand.

“Doesn’t mean I don’t still need you” Kihyun looked up to him and smiled softly “It was kind of scary earlier, watching everyone be so upset over this. You should have seen all the parents, so many started crying” Kihyun spoke softer to not alarm any of the others. He looked to Minhyuk who was now clinging to Hyunwoo while they rebuilt the tower with the taller’s help. “Technically they can’t make us not hang out anymore but I don’t know how this can affect us from here on out” Hoseok nodded and squeezed the younger’s hand.

“We’ll just have to wait and see. But you’re right, they already put us together so they can’t make us stop now” Kihyun nodded and looked back to the older.

When they finally went back to school a few days later, they were all called in to another assembly for everyone to be put on the same page. Basically, this cancellation only affected those in first and third year currently. No one else would be affected and the program was not going to be reinstated in the near future. They went back to their classes for their normal schedule. It was clear at lunch that the third years did not know where to sit now as they no longer were required to sit with their first years. Kihyun noticed how some still went to sit with their younger friends but others sat with their classmates instead. Things would definitely change now but it wouldn’t affect their family and Kihyun was ever the more grateful for that.

The school year finished and Minhyuk and Kihyun graduated from elementary school. The families decided to celebrate the same way they had with Hyunwoo and Hoseok. Hyungwon didn’t like the idea of Kihyun going to a different school from him but Kihyun reassured him just the same way Hoseok had reassured him that they would still be there for each other. Minhyuk and Kihyun promised to join the same club as Hyunwoo and Hoseok so that they wouldn’t have more days without the whole family together. They even started teaching the younger three the dances when Hyunwoo decided to give Minhyuk and Kihyun lessons so that they’d be prepared. They spent most of the summer dancing together. Their parents decided to take them to the beach the week before school started and the boys put on dance performances for their parents. They also made sure to spend time reassuring Hyungwon and made promises to have Hyungwon spend the night at Kihyun’s just as much as he did when they went to school together. Hyunwoo made Jooheon promise to keep an eye on Hyungwon and Changkyun so Kihyun went and whispered to Hyungwon to keep an eye on Jooheon. The younger laughed and nodded to Kihyun. Spending their last night at the beach making promises and planning for their future together was the best way to end the summer.

Their new arrangements in the mornings were now Kihyun and Minhyuk would meet up at Hoseok’s house to walk with them. Jooheon and Changkyun would meet up with Hyungwon unless Hyungwon spent the night at Kihyun’s. Then Kihyun would drop off Hyungwon at Hoseok’s to walk with Changkyun and Jooheon. At their first meeting of dance club,, Hyunwoo was elected as Co-Captain. Minhyuk clung to the older as everyone congratulated him. That night their families celebrated as well. The youngest three begged to be taught any and all the new dances that the older four would learn and that was how they spent most of their free time together. Kihyun made sure that they still had time to sit together and help each other with their homework but for the most part they just danced. Jooheon Hyungwon and Changkyun attended every dance competition that older four were entered in and they could always be spotted in the audience dancing along to the routines. If the team won, the families would go out to celebrate together. If the team lost, a sleepover would be held to help cheer everyone up. 

At one competition, Kihyun was helping Minhyuk and a few of the other first years run over the new formations that they had changed last minute when a group of girls came over to talk to their third years. Kihyun glanced over his shoulder as the girls were giggling as they praised the third year’s dancing abilities. Minhyuk started pouting as one of the girls was showing Hyunwoo an awful lot of attention. Kihyun went to calm down his friend but as he looked over he saw a different girl doing the same to Hoseok. Kihyun didn’t quite know why he got so upset at this sight but the next thing he knew he was marching over with Minhyuk following him as they made their way over to their third years.

“Sorry to interrupt, but hyung, can you come help us with these formations that you changed on us yesterday?” there was a slight bite to Kihyun’s tone as he looked to their captain and Hyunwoo, purposely not looking at Hoseok. This luckily snapped the older’s out of their conversation with the girls as they nodded and called the whole team over to run through the number. The girls asked if they could stay and get a sneak peek but luckily their captain declined and asked them to cheer them on late when they performed. Kihyun rolled his eyes as the girls walked away and moved to take his spot. Hoseok watched as the younger seemed agitated and made a mental note to check on him later. Once they made sure the number was clean, Hyunwoo and the captain called for ten minutes until it was their turn to go on. Kihyun avoided Hoseok walking towards him as he took Minhyuk’s hand and walked in the opposite direction. Hyunwoo came over towards Hoseok as they watched the younger two storm off.

“Why was Kihyunnie so upset earlier?” Hyunwoo asked as he swung his arm around Hoseok’s shoulders.

“Not sure…” Hoseok shrugged and watched the younger two grab their waters and talk amongst themselves. By the time they were called to be on standby, Hoseok had to move to the opposite side to get ready. He knew he needed to focus on the dance but he couldn’t tear his eyes off of Kihyun who was still ignoring him. Minhyuk would catch his eyes every now and then but look away quickly and go back to talking to Kihyun.

“Hoseokie-hyung is still staring at us” Minhyuk whispered to Kihyun as they did their final stretches.

“I know, I can feel those eyes” Kihyun choked back a laugh as he tried to stay neutral “This will teach him for being distracted by those girls earlier” he nodded to his best friend who agreed. Hyunwoo came over towards them and Minhyuk moved to wish him luck but Kihyun grabbed his hand and shook his head. 

“Ahh, yes I forgot’ Minhyuk nodded his head and tried to avoid Hyunwoo. 

“You guys ready?” Hyunwoo smiled down at them. Minhyuk looked to Kihyun, as if asking what to do. Kihyun just looked up to Hyunwoo and nodded.

“As always, Co-captain” Kihyun quickly turned back towards the stage pulling Minhyuk to turn with him. Hyunwoo sighed softly and met Hoseok’s eyes from across the way. Hyunwoo shrugged to Hoseok who shrugged back. When it was time to go on the boys took to their spots and performed. Even though he was still angry at the older two, Kihyun couldn’t help but smile when the third years had their special part of the dance. Since Kihyun was one of the shorter members of the dance team, he was almost always near the front so Hoseok would glance at him every chance he got during the routine. They would meet eyes every now and then but they were both so focused on the dance that their eyes didn’t convey much to each other. As they hit their final poses, they moved to form two lines to bow to the audience as cheers filled the auditorium. Minhyuk and Kihyun were greeted by the younger three members of their family as they made their way back out to the audience after cooling off a bit. Changkyun asked for Hoseok and as Kihyun turned to look for the older two, they saw the two eldest walking out from backstage making their way over. Jooheon and Hyungwon ran to greet the older two and tell them how good they were. But Hyunwoo and Hoseok were staring dead at Minhyuk and Kihyun.

“Thank you thank you” Hyunwoo ruffled Jooheon’s hair as he moved to stand next to them “Minhyukkie. Kihyunnie. You guys were awesome out there as well. Thank you for working the new formations. It really helped” Hyunwoo smiled at them. Minhyuk scoffed and put his arm around Kihyun.

“Well Kihyunnie here with his fantastic memory is what helped. We were trying to go over everything earlier but your distraction made him angry” Kihyun mentally wanted to slap his hand over Minhyuk’s mouth for saying too much as Hoseok and Hyunwoo both looked at Kihyun wide eyed. 

“What distraction Kihyunnie?” Hyunwoo asked as Hoseok nodded and moved closer to the younger. Kihyun sighed and leaned in to Minhyuk’s hold slightly.

“Those girls… they were talking too much when we should have been focusing” Kihyun refused to look right at the older two as the younger members started giggling.

“Kihyunnie-hyung was jealous?” Jooheon asked as he wiggled in his spot. EVeryone watched as Kihyun started to blush and Hyunwoo quickly covered Jooheon’s mouth.

“That’s enough out of you Joo. Why don’t you help me go refill my water bottle? Minhyukkie, do you want to come refill yours and Kihyunnie’s as well?” Hyunwoo reached for Minhyuk who looked to Kihyun.

“Can I go Kihyunnie?” he whispered to his friend next to him. Kihyun nodded and moved out of his hold. The other three left leaving Hyungwon and Changkyun with Hoseok and Kihyun. Hyungwon caught on to the atmosphere and took Changkyun’s hand to give the older two some space. Hoseok looked down at Kihyun and reached for his hand.

“Kihyunnie, I didn’t mean to make you jealous earlier…”

“I wasn’t jealous!” Kihyun blurted out as he looked away but didn’t let go of the other’s hand. Hoseok nodded and took a step closer to Kihyun “I just didn’t think it was professional to be chatting when we still didn’t have a clean routine. I know how much you and Hyunwoo-hyung wanted to win this competition but since we just changed the routine I was worried we might mess up. I was just trying to help…” Kihyun was cut off when Hoseok leaned in and kissed his cheek,

“Thank you Kihyunnie. You always look out for us” Hoseok smiled down at the younger who finally looked up to meet Hoseok’s eyes and smiled back.

“You’re.. You’re welcome” he didn't know why he stuttered but he gently squeezed the older’s hand as they looked at each other for a bit before moving to sit next to Hyungwon and Changkyun and wait for the others to return while watching the other routines. When it came time to announce the winners, Hyunwoo moved down closer to the stage to sit near the captain. Minhyuk took this opportunity to move next to Kihyun and leaned in to whisper.

“Did you and Hoseokie hyung makeup?” Kihyun nodded gently.

“You and Hyunwoo-hyung too?”

“We did. He apologized for the girls distracting him and told me to tell you that Hoseokie-hyung wasn’t even looking at the girls” Kihyun laughed softly at Hyunwoo trying to defend his best friend as Kihyun looked towards Hoseok who was intently listening to the judges. Kihyun smiled and leaned back up. When it got to their category, Hoseok visibly got nervous and Kihyun took his hand to help calm the older. As they started announcing the placements, it came down to them and one other team for first and second. Hoseok squeezed Kihyun’s hand as they waited patiently for the judges to announce. Cheers erupted in the auditorium when they were announced as the first place team and Hyunwoo and the captain walked onto the stage to accept the award. Minhyuk stood and was screaming for Hyunwoo as did the other members of their family. Kihyun went to stand up as well but Hoseok pulled on his hand and pulled the younger in to his arms. Hoseok held on to Kihyun.

“I’m sorry for earlier and I promise I won’t do it again” he spoke loud enough for Kihyun to hear over the cheers. Kihyun hugged the older back and smiled against him

“It’s okay hyung, I forgive you” Kihyun tilted his head up to kiss Hoseok’s cheek. But Hoseok moved at the same time and they accidentally kissed. Kihyun’s immediate reaction was to pull back but Hoseok held on to him for a second. Kihyun turned his head away from the others and apologized immediately. ‘I’m so sorry hyung. I didn’t mean to do that” Hoseok laughed softly and gently brought his hand to turn Kihyun’s face back to look at him.

“It’s okay Kihyunnie. I know it was an accident” Hoseok smirked at the younger who was starting to blush again. Kihyun wiggled his way out of the hold and stood to join the cheers as Hyunwoo and their captain were still onstage taking pictures with the trophy. Minhyuk tugged at Kihyun as the captain called for the team to meet backstage for a group shot. Kihyun looked over his shoulder to see if Hoseok would be joining them and sure as not, Hoseok was standing and following closely behind them. The rest of their family members and their parents had also come backstage to take photos of the team. That night they would go out to celebrate as whole family. Hoseok took extra care to stay close to Kihyun that night. Not that anyone would have noticed as they were always together but Kihyun certainly noticed the closer proximity then he was use to but every time he caught the older’s eyes, he couldn’t help but smile up at him. 

Middle school graduations were handled in a similar fashion as their elementary school graduations. Except this time, they had members of the dance team invited over to celebrate. Kihyun noticed the younger members of their families off by themselves inside the house and he left his teammates to go spend time with them. Pulling Changkyun into his lap he smiled as he caught up with what they were talking about. Minhyuk soon noticed that Kihyun had left their group and he wandered to Hyunwoo’s side to ask if the eldest had seen the younger. 

“Wasn’t he just with you?” Hyunwoo placed his drink down as he looked around the backyard.

“He was but then I turned around and he wasn’t there” Minhyuk pouted and Hyunwoo placed his arm around the younger.

“Don’t worry you know how Kihyunnie is. Let’s ask Seok” the younger nodded as Hyunwoo excused them from their group as they moved over to the next group where Hoseok was chatting with the captain. “Sorry guys, but Seok, have you seen Kihyunnie lately? Minhyukkie said he left without saying anything” Hoseok’s eyes widened as he immediately scanned the backyard.

“Not since earlier, did something happen?” Minhyuk shook his head up at the older.

“No, nothing that I know of. Maybe he just needed a break. I’ll go see if he’s inside”

“We’ll come with you” Hyunwoo caught Minhyuk’s hand as he pulled away and followed the younger. Hoseok also excused himself and followed the others inside. They didn’t have to look far as they found their four family members playing a video game on the front television. Jooheon looked up and smiled, waving them over. Kihyun looked up as well and frowned.

“Why aren’t you guys outside enjoying your party?” he shifted Changkyun in his lap a bit to face the older members. Hyunwoo and Hoseok smiled down at them while Minhyuk had joined Jooheon’s side and was trying to help him beat Hyungwon in the game.

“We came to look for you Kihyunnie” Hyunwoo nodded in agreement with Hoseok’s words.

“Oh… well the boys were kind of lonely. I felt kind of bad and wanted to come spend some time with them as well” he kissed the top of Changkyun’s head who looked back up to him and smiled. Hoseok squished himself on the couch between Hyungwon and Kihyun and Hyunwoo joined Jooheon and Minhyuk on the floor. “Wait, hyungs. All your friends…”

“Have seen us all day. We want to spend time with the family now too, Kihyunnie” Hyunwoo spoke over his shoulder as he smiled and ruffled Jooheon’s hair a bit. Kihyun smiled back and looked over to Hoseok who was giving Hyungwon pointers in how to play. He shifted him and Changkyun some more to lean back in to the couch. Things were going to change again with Hoseok and Hyunwoo graduating but with moments like this, Kihyun knew they would be okay.

They hadn’t expected such big changes however. High school wasn’t too far from the middle school so Hyunwoo and Hoseok still got to walk together with Minhyuk and Kihyun in the mornings. And both of the older boys still joined the dance club which luckily met on the same day as the middle school dance team. But Mr. Shin talked both of the boys into trying out for his baseball team and they both made it. The baseball team met up two days a week for practices. This was now two more days away from the family. At first the remaining five boys would go to the park or to the library to study on these days but it got hard fast. Minhyuk would whine about missing Hyunwoo. And Hyungwon became even clingier whenever Hoseok was around to makeup for lost time. Jooheon and Changkyun had it a bit easier since they lived with the older two and saw them more than anyone else in the family. As for Kihyun, he hated seeing their family sad. He racked his brain trying to figure out a way to fix things. With the extra practices a week, both Hyunwoo and Hoseok were tired more often and Kihyun didn’t want to tire them out more by inviting them out with the family. He knew they wouldn’t decline the offer but he needed them to rest as well. It was almost as if a light bulb went off in his head one morning when they were walking to school with Mr. Shin. Kihyun skipped ahead of the others and tapped on Mr. Shin’s hand. The older man stopped and turned to Kihyun. Kihyun motioned for the older to come closer as he whispered in his ear. Mr. Shin pulled back and smiled, nodding in agreement to what Kihyun had just asked. Kihyun cheered and skipped back to Minhyuk to whisper in his ear. Hyunwoo and Hoseok watched curiously at the younger members. Minhyuk cheered as well and then looked back to Hyunwoo and Hoseok.

“What was that all about?” Hyunwoo pointed from Mr. Shin to the boys and they both just giggled and shrugged.

“It’s a secret!!” they said in unison as they linked arms and skipped ahead to follow Mr. Shin to their school. Once at the gate they said they goodbyes and Mr. Shin promised to text the group chat. Kihyun thanked him and waved before turning to go inside.

“Dad, what did Kihyunnie ask you?” Hoseok whined as they made their way to the high school.

“Kihyunnie made me promise not to say, and I learned long ago not to anger your little friend so you will just have to wait” the older man smiled and waved as they went their separate ways at the school. “See you at practice later boys” Hoseok huffed as he followed behind Hyunwoo. After school that day, Minhyuk and Kihyun waited for Mrs. Shin to arrive with the others. Mrs. Shin had heard from her husband and apparently had filled the younger members in on the secret. Kihyun felt proud of himself of thinking of this idea as the five of them along with Mrs. Shin walked over to the high school. Mrs. Shin brought them up into the bleachers and set down a few blankets for them to be able to place their things on without getting dirty. Kihyun figured if they were going to spend baseball nights doing their homework together than they might as well do their homework at the baseball practices so that they could also watch their hyungs. Mr. Shin made Kihyun promise that they would be quiet and not disturb the practice which Mrs. Shin had already spoken with Jooheon and Changkyun about that. Everyone agreed and did their best not to cheer when they saw the baseball team make their way out onto the field. Mr. Shin caught their eyes and waved at the family who all waved back with bright smiles on their faces. Hoseok followed his father’s gaze and his eyes widened at the sight. He tapped Hyunwoo and pointed at their family. Hyunwoo shook his head but had the biggest smile on his face as he waved back to their family. Kihyun knew it wasn’t the same as actually spending time with the older members but at least they were together and could see each other. This would work for now.  Kihyun took charge and made sure everyone actually finished their homework during the practice and wasn’t too distracted by watching the older members. He knew the parents wouldn’t agree to this arrangement if their work didn’t get done and he really wanted this plan to work. Luckily for him, everyone listened really well when he said to do something and there was still thirty minutes left of practice when they had finished all their homework. Kihyun smiled, extremely proud of himself as they packed their things up and all sat up to watch the boys practice. Anytime Hyunwoo or Hoseok did something, Kihyun had to bite back a cheer along with the others. Minhyuk accidentally let a few out and all the younger members scolded him everytime that Mr. Shin didn’t have the heart to say anything. He would smile at his wife who was sitting with the kids and she just shrugged and mouthed ‘Sorry’. He shook his head and went back to coaching. The rest of practice flew by and soon Mrs. Shin was telling them to get their bags as Kihyun helped her fold the blankets and put them back in the bag. They were all holding hands while they waited for the older two and Mr. Shin. Some of the other baseball members walked past them and high-fived Jooheon who held his hand out to them, telling them they had a great practice. The older boys laughed but still played along for the younger boy. Changkyun was the first to notice their family members.

“Can Kyunnie make noise now?” he asked his mom who smiled and nodded to her youngest.Changkyun yelled both of their names and everyone else started waving as the older two made their way over.

“This was your grand surprise, Kihyunnie?” Hoseok reached for Kihyun’s hand. Kihyun pulled back and smiled.

“Hyung, you’re sweaty. But yes it was. I hope it was okay?” Kihyun handed Hoseok a towel to wipe off and then he took the older’s hand.

“Yes it was perfect Kihyunnie. Thank you” Hyunwoo smiled over at them as Minhyuk handed him a towel as well. Hyungwon and Jooheon were holding on to cold water bottles for the older two and gave them over once they two had wiped off. 

“Having your own pep squad must be nice” Mr. Shin teased as he walked over watching the family members interact. He kissed his wife as they led the kids out of the school and off to their homes. Hoseok looked down at his hand holding Kihyun’s as they walked back towards home.

“Hey Kihyunnie, thank you” Kihyun looked up and tilted his head a bit.

“What are you thanking me for hyung?”

“For coming to our practice. It felt really nice to see you” Kihyun blushed slightly and nodded back up to the older.

“It felt really nice to see you too hyung” they walked the rest of the way in silence. When they reached the Shin’s and the Son’s houses, Mrs. Lee was waiting to pick up Minhyuk Kihyun and Hyungwon to bring them the rest of the way home. The parents talked a little to figure out how to schedule in attending practices for all of the kids but after Mrs. Shin showed them the few sneaky pictures she had gotten of the kids, they all agreed they would make this work out for them. 

This also meant that the boys attended every game. Even if there were away games, the parents would arrange rides so that they never missed a game. Games were when Jooheon Changkyun and Minhyuk were allowed to cheer as much as they wanted. Hyungwon and Kihyun would shake their heads at their crazy friends but joined in whenever their team scored. The other baseball team members soon started calling them their cheering squad and would often point to them after scoring and especially after winning which of course only riled up Minhyuk who would scream even louder at times. Jooheon and Changkyun following suit. Kihyun would frequently ask Hyunwoo and Hoseok if they were being a bother but they always told him not to worry.

“We love it, Kihyunnie don’t worry” Hyunwoo smiled and shook his head. Hoseok nodded in agreement. Kihyun sighed but nodded back. He would admit the games were fun and he enjoyed watching the older member’s play. Except when they batted. Kihyun always looked away when one of them was up at bat, too afraid that they would get hit. Hoseok noticed at one of their practices and tried to reassure the younger but it was just a feeling Kihyun couldn’t shake. Other than his irrational fear, Kihyun enjoyed the games with his family members. Minhyuk had learned all the cheers from the real cheerleading team and would recite them along with the girls. It was always a fun night out on game nights. 

And just like that, the school year flew by. Jooheon and Hyungwon graduated from elementary school, leaving only Changkyun at the elementary school, who whined all summer long about being the youngest but everyone knew how to cheer up their youngest and spent all their time doing so. Jooheon and Hyungwon asked Minhyuk and Kihyun to teach them the dances to be prepared for the dance club and Minhyuk let slip that Kihyun was going to try out for captain. Hoseok Changkyun and Hyunwoo immediately looked over at them as Kihyun slapped Minhyuk for blurting it out. 

“Really Ki-hyungie?” Changkyun asked as he skipped over towards them and took Kihyun’s hand.

“Well… yeah. This year’s captain said I have what it takes so I thought I would try” he shrugged as everyone cheered and crowded around him, wishing him luck. Minhyuk pouted and Kihyun apologized for hitting him. They went back to teaching the dances to Jooheon and Hyungwon with Changkyun standing near the back to learn them as well. Hoseok couldn’t tear his eyes off of Kihyun as the younger taught the dances. He would catch the younger’s eyes and smile at him. Kihyun would always smile back but then go back to his teachings. After everyone was tired, they moved inside to cool off and watch a movie. Hoseok pulled Kihyun to sit next to him as he reached for the younger’s hand.

“You’re going to make a great captain, Kihyunnie” he whispered to the younger. Kihyun blushed slightly and gently pushed the others shoulder with his free hand.

“I’m not captain yet, hyung. Don’t jinx me” Kihyun laughed as he looked up at Hoseok. Hoseok held his gaze for a moment before shaking his head.

“They’d be crazy not to pick you. You’re perfect” they both smiled at each other as Kihyun shifted and rested his head on Hoseok’s shoulder. They both shifted to get comfortable to watch the movie still holding hands and leaning into each other. 

Changkyun huffed all morning about having to go to school by himself and Hoseok just rolled his eyes at the younger as he got ready. He grabbed his bag as he hurried his brother along out the door.

“Come on, Kyunnie. It won’t be so bad” Changkyun pouted as he crossed his arms waiting for his mother to join them.

“You don’t know that. You’ve always had Hyunwoo-hyungie with you even when you left the others. I have no one” he stomped his foot as Hyunwoo and Jooheon walked out. Jooheon ran over and glomped Changkyun, pinching his cheeks.

“Cheer up Kyunnie. We’ll see you right after school” Changkyun still huffed some more but held on to Jooheon for a few more seconds until his mother came out and started walking him to school. He waved at the older three and headed off. As they reached the corner, they passed by Mrs. Yoo, Kihyun, Minhyuk and Hyungwon who all stopped to hug the younger. Changkyun threw his pout at them as well who all reassured him that they’d see him soon. They remaining members joined up and walked to school with Mr. Shin. He was slightly nervous about having six boys to watch on the walk and Mrs. Yoo offered to walk with them but the boys reassured them both that they would be fine. Kihyun held on to Hyungwon’s hand and Hyunwoo held Jooheon’s just to reassure Mrs. Yoo. She told them all to have a good as they walked off. Dropping off the younger four at the middle school, the older two went on to high school with Mr. Shin. And this was the schedule every morning. Changkyun’s pouting got less frequent as the weeks went on but he still made it a point to remind the others. 

Hyungwon and Jooheon easily joined the dance club and to no one’s surprise, Kihyun was elected as captain. Minhyuk couldn’t keep his mouth shut and blurted it out the moment the seven of them were together that night and Hyungwon smacked him for ruining Kihyun’s announcement. Everyone congratulated Kihyun and they celebrated that night. They still attended baseball practice and Changkyun would meet up at the middle school to wait for the older four when they had dance practice. Besides Changkyun’s whining, everything was going fine. Until Hoseok broke one of his promises.

Kihyun was always right. And the others hated how often he was right. But Kihyun did not like being right this time. After turning back to watch Hoseok walk to his base after hitting the ball, he noticed the older was rubbing his shoulder a bit. He couldn’t remember if Hoseok had complained about his shoulder bothering him earlier before the game and he couldn’t think of a reason it might be causing him pain. 

“Minhyukkie, did Hyunwoo-hyung say anything about Hoseok-hyung’s shoulder to you?”

“No I don’t think so, why?” Minhyuk and Kihyun both looked back to the field to see the next batter up and Hoseok getting ready to run to the next base. 

“Nothing, was just wondering…” Kihyun shrugged it off and continued to watch the game unless Hoseok or Hyunwoo were up to bat. It didn’t matter how many games or practices he watched, he refused to watch if a ball was being hurled at them. He waited until he heard the umpire call the play or the ding of the bat on the ball before he would turn back around. A few more innings came and went. Kihyun watched Hoseok stretch out his shoulder each time he went up to bat and he clenched his hands to pray that the game would end soon and he could check on the older. Kihyun knew something was wrong. And Kihyun hated being right. The next time Hoseok went up to bat, Kihyun looked down at his hands as he always did. What he didn’t expect was to hear a groan and the umpire to call a timeout as Minhyuk screamed Hoseok’s name. Kihyun’s eyes shot back up as he saw Hoseok grabbing his shoulder as he was squatting near the ground. Kihyun only had enough time to jump up before Mrs. Shin grabbed his hand and pulled him back.

“Kihyunnie, hold on. Let them check him out first” her voice sounded calm but when he looked up at her, he could see worry in her eyes. He looked back to Hoseok who had his dad and a few other teammates surrounding him. Kihyun moved to the edge of the bleachers near Minhyuk.

“Minhyukkie, tell me what happened” Minhyuk looked over and shook his head.

“You don’t want to know, Kihyunnie. Trust me”

“No, Minhyukkie please. I need to know” Minhyuk sighed and took Kihyun’s hand.

“I think you were right about his shoulder bothering him. He was holding the bat up but all of a sudden he dropped his arm and at the same time the pitch came and smacked him in the shoulder…” Kihyun’s eyes widened as tears rushed to his eyes. His worst fear had come true. And now Hoseok was hurt. Hoseok promised him he would never get hurt. KIhyun felt Minhyuk wrap his arms around him as he leaned in to his best friend and cried. Hyungwon Jooheon and Changkyun joined the hug as well, trying to comfort Kihyun. Mr. Shin and the assistant coach helped walk Hoseok off the field to get his shoulder looked at and Hyunwoo walked with them. The crowd cheered as they brought him off the field. Kihyun forced himself to look when the crowd cheered and his tear stained eyes caught Hoseok’s. Hyunwoo also looked over to their family to see everyone’s worried faces. He ran towards them to update them on the situation.

“Mr. Shin says he probably just overused it and needs to ice it. Seok’s gonna sit out the rest of the game and if it’s still bothering him then we’ll take him to the hospital. It’s just bruised right now” Hyunwoo panted as he explained. Mrs. Shin thanks Hyunwoo and craned her neck to look at her oldest son and her husband. Mr. Shin gave her a nod and she nodded back. Hyunwoo watched as the youngers members of their family sat back down but Kihyun clung to Minhyuk. Minhyuk met Hyunwoo’s eyes and shook his head.

“It’s okay. I got Kihyunnie. You go” Minhyuk nodded back to the field and Hyunwoo nodded. “He’s going to be okay Kihyunnie” Minhyuk whispered in to Kihyun’s hair as he held his best friend. They slowly sat back down and watched the rest of the game. Well Minhyuk and the others did. Kihyun stared at his hands while he fidgeted with his fingers until the game was called and everyone started leaving. “Kihyunnie, do you think you can walk with me to the car? We’re going to go meet Mr. Shin Hyunwoo-hyung and Hoseok-hyung at the hospital” Kihyun didn’t answer but did stand. His legs felt weird and Minhyuk was quick to react and put his arm around Kihyun to help steady him. Hyungwon came up on the other side and took Kihyun’s hand.

“Kihyun-hyung…” he spoke softly as Minhyuk shook his head at the younger and told him to be quiet. They walked out together and found Mrs. Shin waiting at the van. She was clearly still worried but trying to hide it from the kids. Minhyuk helped Hyungwon in and then Kihyun before climbing in himself. This was one of the quietest rides the five had ever had as they all stared at Kihyun. Kihyun barely moved, only reacting to the bumps in the road or the turns as they made their way to the hospital. Hyunwoo was waiting for them in the waiting room and told Mrs. Shin where to meet her husband and son. At first she didn’t want to leave the kids alone but Hyunwoo reassured her that he could keep an eye on them for the short time they’d be there. She went to take Changkyun with her as he was Hoseok’s little brother and Changkyun refused, wanting to stay with the others. She smiled at their bond and nodded before thanking Hyunwoo and running down the hallway to find the room the others were in. Hyunwoo helped move them to the waiting room where Changkyun Hyungwon and Jooheon started flipping through some of the magazines. Hyunwoo watched Minhyuk sit Kihyun down in a chair and crouched down in front of the younger, taking his hands.

“Kihyunnie, look at me” Hyunwoo spoke softly but he knew Kihyun heard him as the younger raised his eyes up to look at the older. Hyunwoo smiled softly and squeezed his hands. “He’s going to be fine Kihyunnie. He’s in some pain right now but he’s more upset that he upset you. He wouldn’t stop whining about wanting to see you to tell you he was okay the whole car ride here” 

Minhyuk laughed softly and shook his head as he eavesdropped. “Typical hyung” 

Hyunwoo watched and hoped for a reaction from the younger but Kihyun simply just nodded and looked back down at their hands. Minhyuk leaned in and kissed the side of Kihyun’s head while they stayed there for a few more minutes with the only noise coming from the youngest three giggling at the magazines. Mr. and Mrs. Shin came back with Hoseok standing next to them. He shoulder was wrapped and his arm was in a sling to keep him from moving it. Mr. Shin announced that the x-rays came back fine and that Hoseok would be sore for a while and wouldn’t be able to play the next few games but that he’d be fine. The younger three cheered and ran towards Hoseok to check on him. Hoseok smiled at them but kept looking back at Kihyun who hadn’t looked up from his lap. Mrs. Shin nudged Mr. Shin and he caught on to the situation. He ushered the younger three back to the car as Mrs. Shin motioned for Minhyuk to follow her. Hyunwoo stood and moved to walk with Minhyuk but Kihyun grabbed on to Minhyuk when he felt the other start to leave. His eyes shot up and he caught a glimpse of Hoseok before he looked back down. Minhyuk patted Kihyun’s hand and crouched down to his level. “Kihyunnie, talk to Hoseok-hyung please…” Kihyun loosened his hold on Minhyuk and let the other go. Minhyuk took Hyunwoo’s hand and they followed Mrs. Shin out to the car to rearrange the seating between her car and Mr. Shin’s car now that they were all together. Hoseok waited to see if Kihyun was going to say anything before he walked over and sat next to the younger.

“Kihyunnie, please. Will you look at me?” Hoseok reached out with his uninjured hand towards the younger.

“You broke your promise…” he spoke softly “You promised me… you said you wouldn’t get hurt…” Kihyun tried to hold back his tears as he brought his hands up to wipe at his face. Hoseok sat there for a moment trying to remember the promise. Kihyun was always able to read Hoseok without the older saying anything and so he continued “When we first met. I complained about your rough hands. Your mom told me you liked to rough house outside and…”  
“And I promised I wouldn’t hurt my hands so that we could always hold hands..” Hoseok nodded as he remembered the moment. He took the younger’s hand and threaded their fingers together. “Kihyunnie, I swear to you I didn’t get hurt on purpose”

“But I knew you were in pain… I could see that your shoulder was bothering you”

“You did?” the younger nodded and finally lifted his face up to look at the older “I was being stubborn, I know. I should have said something so that they wouldn’t keep putting me up to bat. I made it worse when I could’ve prevented this. But Kihyunnie, I am really okay. It hurts but after some rest, I’ll be fine” he nodded to the younger who looked to the other’s shoulder. Kihyun took his free hand and raised it up, gently caressing the bandage. “I am sorry I made you upset Kihyunnie. I never wanted to make you cry” Tears started welling up in Kihyun's eyes at his words as Kihyun looked back to the older.

“I don’t want to see you hurt ever again, you hear me Shin Hoseok?” Hoseok nodded at the younger and squeezed his hand. “Good…” Kihyun sniffled and leaned in resting his head against Hoseok’s good shoulder. Hoseok let go of KIhyun’s hand and brought his arm up to wrap around the younger. At this gesture, Kihyun let go and started crying against Hoseok’s chest. Hoseok rubbed his back and soothed him until the younger had calmed down. Once Kihyun had pulled back, he gently slapped the others good shoulder “Don’t make me cry again” he huffed as he sat up straight and wiped his face. 

“I won’t. I hate to see you cry” Hoseok smiled up at the younger and stood, offering his good hand down to the younger, Kihyun took it and walked with the other out to the car. For the next two weeks while Hoseok’s arm was in the sling, the older three members made sure he never carried a thing. Hyunwoo was on backpack duty at all times. And Minhyuk and Kihyun watched him like a hawk whenever they were all together. Changkyun and Hyungwon pouted when they couldn’t sit in the older’s lap and Hoseok whined about letting the younger members but Kihyun and Minhyuk refused. Changkyun would sit in Minhyuk’s lap and Hyungwon in Kihyun’s until further notice. Even when the sling came off and the bandage was removed, Kihyun still fussed whenever Hoseok tried to carry something even after all the others had relaxed on the oldest. During one of Kihyun’s rants, Hoseok grabbed the younger and forced him to look at him. “Yoo Kihyun, my shoulder is fine. The bruise is gone. The bandages have been gone for a week and I am cleared to go back to baseball next week. Please stop worrying about me” Hoseok pleaded with the younger. Kihyun pushed the other’s arms off of him and gasped once he realized what he did.

“Oh I’m sorry are you okay?”

“See? Nothing. It didn’t even hurt. I’m fine” Hoseok twirled his arm in circles showing the younger his range of motion was back and it didn’t hurt. Kihyun watched Hoseok’s face for any sort of sign of pain and when he didn’t see any, he sighed and nodded.

“Okay, okay. I’ll back off…” he took a step back and turned to walk away. Hoseok ran up behind him and pulled the younger in to a back hug, nuzzling his head on to the other’s shoulder.

“Thank you Kihyunnie. You were the best nurse” Kihyun blushed and shook his head but didn’t try to break the hold.

“Anything for you, hyung”

Time passed and their dance club landed some big competition that the whole family attended. Four of them were dancing and the other three sat in the audience to cheer them on. At some point, Hyunwoo and Hoseok made their way backstage using the excuse that they were alumni to find their family members. It wasn’t hard as the whole team were surrounding Kihyun as the other was giving them a motivational speech. Hyunwoo and Hoseok leaned against the wall and watched the speech that was going on in front of them. Once Kihyun was done, they all put their hands in and did their little chant before they all went their separate ways to stretch some more before their performance. This was Hyunwoo and Hoseok’s cue to move in and wish the others luck. Minhyuk spotted them first and ran over. This caught Jooheon Hyungwon and Kihyun’s attention as they all looked over and smiled.

“You guys nervous?” Hoseok asked as he swung his arm around Kihyun’s shoulders.

“Not nervous, just excited” Jooheon commented.

“Speak for yourself, I’m nervous” Hyungwon laughed as he fixed his costume. Kihyun reached over and straightened his collar.

“You’re going to be great” Hyunwoo smiled “That was a great speech Kihyunnie. You really are fit to be captain” Kihyun blushed slightly, turning his head in to Hoseok.

“Thanks hyung. I hope they think so too” Hyungwon shook his head and smiled.

“We all think that Kihyun-hyung” Hyungwon took KIhyun’s hand as Jooheon and Minhyuk agreed with Hyungwon’s words. They moved in for a group hug as one of the staff members called for them to be on standby. Hyunwoo and Hoseok wished them luck and started to leave. Hoseok kissed Kihyun’s forehead before heading out. Kihyun sighed and moved to the side of the stage with Minhyuk trailing behind.

“Soooo…” Minhyuk teased as Kihyun stretched a bit to try and ignore the other. “You and Hoseokie-hyung?” Minhyuk started poking Kihyun’s side and KIhyun slapped at his hands.

“What about us Minhyukkie?”

“Nothing!” Minhyuk smirked and Kihyun rolled his eyes. He peered out from backstage to see the older two sitting with Changkyun and a few of their parents. The performance before them was finishing up and then it was their turn. The lights dimmed after the team bowed and once they were all off the stage the announcer announced that they would be performing next. The lights came on low as the music started and when it was time their team started making their way on to the stage. Kihyun lead the team from the center for most of the dance. He could hear Changkyun screaming his name over and over as the routine went on. As captain, Kihyun knew how to highlight everyone in the team and when the first years got their special part he could clearly hear their family cheering for Hyungwon and Jooheon. He had to keep his smile from getting too big as the routine went on and the scream continued to get louder. The routine ended with Minhyuk in the center and everyone heard Hyunwoo rooting for him as they all held their poses for a few seconds while the audience cheered. Once Kihyun gave the call they all stood to bow and then made their way offstage. Kihyun called them into a group hug and he congratulated them all on their hard work. Once the members were dismissed and moved in to the audience to watch the rest of the competition, Kihyun kept Minhyuk Jooheon and Hyungwon behind. The four of them had their own little cheer circle before joining their family out in the audience. Trying not to disturb the next performance they made their way to their seats, but were caught by someone tapping on Kihyun and Minhyuk’s shoulder. They stopped and turned around while the older gentleman motioned for them to follow him. Minhyuk shrugged but started following and Kihyun immediately flashed a look to their family. Hoseok stood and tried to figure out what was going on while Kihyun turned to follow behind Minhyuk. 

“Where are they going? Who was that?” Hoseok leaned down to Hyunwoo, speaking over the music. Hyunwoo’s eyes followed the youngers and he shook his head.

“I’ve never seen him before. Want to go check on them?” Hoseok immediately nodded and they excused themselves to walk out in to the lobby to spot their family members. The older man had given Minhyuk and Kihyun his business card as he spoke to the younger two about the arts high school nearby. Apparently he came to the competition to do some scouting and enjoyed watching the two of them perform. He handed them a pamphlet and asked them to talk to their parents about the school before he bid his farewell and walked past Hyunwoo and Hoseok back in to the auditorium. Hyunwoo moved to go see Minhyuk and Kihyun while Hoseok’s eyes followed the older man back in to the auditorium. “Hey, who was that?” Hyunwoo asked and his voice echoed in the lobby which broke Hoseok from his fog and he turned quickly moving towards the others. 

“A scout! He said he wants me and Kihyunnie to come to the arts high school next year” 

“He said he wants us to audition Minhyukkie. Doesn’t mean we would get in” Kihyun corrected as he held both the card and his pamphlet in one hand and reached out his free hand to Hoseok. The older immediately took the hand and was at his side. 

“Are you guys interested?” Hoseok hesitated to ask. Both Kihyun and Minhyuk shook their heads and said no at the same time which caused them all to laugh.

“I’d rather be with you two next year” Minhyuk smiled up at Hyunwoo who leaned in and hugged the younger. Kihyun nodded in agreement and rested his head on Hoseok’s arm.

“Let’s go back inside, I wanna sit down” Kihyun whined as they all went back to their seats. They watched the rest of the competition and when it was almost time for awards, Kihyun left to go stand near the stage. Minhyuk Jooheon and Hyungwon were all holding hands as they started announcing the winners. When they got to their division, the host said that they had a special award to give to outstanding leadership to a captain that the judges all agreed stood out amongst the others. Kihyun looked up and caught Hoseok’s eyes the moment they announced Kihyun’s name. The younger was lost in Hoseok’s face cheering for him that his co-captain standing next to him had to nudge him to go up on the stage. Kihyun blushed in embarrassment and walked on to the stage to accept his award. Looking in to the audience he saw his whole family standing and cheering for him along with his team. He thanked the judge that gave him the award, posed for a picture and then bowed to the audience before walking back off. He held the award up towards his family who were still screaming for him and he smiled brightly. The host started back up with the awards and Kihyun didn’t have much time to stare at his trophy before their team was called up for winning first place. Kihyun could clearly hear Minhyuk screaming as he went back on to the stage, accepting their second award. Kihyun called the team to come down so that they could all take a photo together. After posing for what felt like hundreds of photos thanks to the team’s family members they all finally went backstage to gather their things to leave. After another congratulatory dinner, the family all sat outside talking amongst themselves. Hoseok asked to speak with Kihyun alone as the two of them walked away for some privacy.

“Okay, hyung you’re scaring me. What's wrong?” Kihyun asked as he turned to look up at the older. Hoseok took the pamphlet out from his back pocket and held it out to the other.

“Kihyunnie, I want you to seriously consider the arts high school before completely turning it down” Kihyun’s eyes widened as he looked back and forth between the pamphlet and Hoseok.

“No, I’ve already decided. I’m not leaving. I can’t leave our family Hoseok” Kihyun bit back with a little more force then he meant. Hoseok sighed but continued to hold the pamphlet out.

“Kihyunnie, think about this. It’s a great opportunity for you and MInhyukkie”

“No! I don’t care. I only joined this team for you and Hyunwoo-hyung”

“But Kihyunnie, you’re really good. We all saw it today”

“Then I’ll be good at it in high school too. At your high school. Our high school. Why are you trying to get rid of me?”

“It’s not that Kihyunnie. I just want what’s best for you” he bit his lip slightly as his voice got softer at the end of his statement.

“What’s best for me is being with my family, Hoseok… with you” Hoseok nodded at that and folded the pamphlet back in to his pocket.

“Okay, I’ll drop it then I’m sorry” he took a step closer to the younger and pulled him in for a hug. Kihyun sighed and leaned in to the hold, wrapping his arms around the taller. They stayed together until they heard Hyungwon calling for them. Smiling as they pulled apart, Kihyun took the older’s hand and they walked back to join the family. Minhyuk skipped over and stole Kihyun away from Hoseok.

“Everything okay for you two?” Kihyun laughed and nodded.

“Yes Minhyukkie, everything is great” Kihyun looked back to Hoseok and smiled. 

The following weekend the high school dance club had a competition and the family was there to cheer on Hoseok and Hyunwoo. The same scout was spotted in the audience and after their performance, the scout gave his card to Hyunwoo and Hoseok as well. He tried to ask them if they could talk, but both boys politely declined and moved over to their family. Hoseok took Kihyun’s hand and smiled.

“Staying with my family” he whispered in to Kihyun’s ear. Kihyun nodded and smiled back to the older. Hoseok leaned down and kissed Kihyun’s forehead “Staying with you” Kihyun knew that Hoseok was just repeating his own words back to him but he still appreciated them. 

Minhyuk and Kihyun’s final year of middle school ended and they graduated with flying colors. The captain of the high school dance club came and invited them both to attend a special summer seminar with the high school team. The younger three pouted about being left behind for a week but Kihyun convinced Jooheon and Hyungwon to teach Changkyun their routines for the middle school team since in a year Changkyun would be joining, giving the younger a huge advantage to know four alumni of the team and two of the third years once he becomes a first year.  The seminar was only for three hours a day and lasted a week. Every evening when the older four would return, Hyungwon begged for them to teach what they had learned so they spent the first half of the summer just dancing with each other. Of course, they took breaks when Mr. Shin would call the baseball team in for drills to stay warm over the summer. But the boys would still attend thee practices and would watch from the stands as always. 

“Minnie-hyungie, are you and Ki-hyungie joining baseball too this year?” Changkyun asked as he tossed the ball to the older. Minhyuk looked to Kihyun and shrugged.

“I don’t think so Kyunnie. Kihyunnie and I are going to stick to dance” he nodded as he tossed the ball to Jooheon.

“Why’s that?” Jooheon asked as he tossed the ball to Kihyun. Kihyun sighed and looked to the practice quickly before looking back and tossing it to Hyungwon. “Is it because of Hoseok-hyung getting hurt?” Kihyun smiled softly as Hyungwon and Minhyuk glared at Jooheon and shushed him.

“Thank you both but it’s fine. And yes Joo, it is. I won’t stop them from playing but I can’t have a ball flying at me”

“Me either. I’d get hit more times than the bat would hit the ball” Minhyuk joked and everyone laughed. They continued to toss the ball between themselves until the practice was over and they headed home with everyone. 

Before they knew it, summer was over. Hyunwoo and Hoseok were entering their final year of high school as Kihyun and Minhyuk were entering their first year. Jooheon and Hyungwon were now second years in middle school and Changkyun was now in his final year of elementary school. To make the older six members pay him back for having to be alone, Changkyun forced them to teach him every dance the clubs learned that year. And on days that dance practice fell on the same day his mom picked him up from school, he would convince her to bring him to watch their practices, taking turns between the high school team and the middle school team. On days when the baseball team practiced, Kihyun and Minhyuk would wait outside the gate for the younger three to arrive when one of their parents before leading them inside and to the bleachers.On days when he knew they would be practicing their hitting, Kihyun would take Hyungwon and Jooheon and show them around the high school to prepare them for when they got to the school in a few years. Everyone knew why but no one commented on Kihyun’s actions. On one of these trips, they ran into one of the co-captains of the high school dance club. Kihyun introduced his brothers to the older man

“And this is Hyungwonnie and Jooheonnie. They’re members of the middle school team now and I am sure will be interested in joining the high school team once they get here” Kihyun smiled as he nudged the younger two to bow.

“You can call me Injung-hyung” the co captain nodded his head to the younger two. “Your hyung, Kihyun here is an excellent addition to our team”

“Kihyunnie-hyung is great” Jooheon smiled up at Kihyun who smiled back “He was always coming up with awesome new ideas for the team last year”

“I saw many of your dances, they were good. You will need to share some of these grand ideas with us, Kihyun”

“Oh I wouldn’t want to get in the way of the third years. You all know much more than I do”

“Nonsense, Kihyun. We’d love to hear what you have in mind” Injung smiled and placed his hand on Kihyun’s shoulder. Hyungwon frowned and leaned in closer to Kihyun.

“Kihyun-hyung I think I heard the baseball team whistle. Let’s head back..” Hyungwon gently pulled on Kihyun causing Injung’s hand to fall. Kihyun turned and bowed to Injung.

“That’s our call then. See you later, Injung-hyung” Kihyun smiled and led the younger two back out to the field. The joined the others to wait for Hyunwoo and Hoseok and Mr. Shin. On the walk back home Hyungwon tugged at Hoseok’s bag. Hoseok looked down at the younger and reached his hand out to him, knowing this was usually what the younger wanted. Kihyun was holding Changkyun’s hand at the moment so that must be it. Hyungwon took his hand but tugged Hoseok to lean in so that the could speak softer and the others wouldn’t hear.

“Hoseok-hyung, is Injung-hyung a nice guy?”

“Injung? Co-captain Injung? How do you know him, Hyungwonnie?”

“That’s not important right now, hyung but we ran into him during our tour today while you guys were having hitting practice” Hoseok looked over at Kihyun and sighed. “Hyung, focus!” Hyungwon called out and forced Hoseok to look back at him. 

“Sorry, Hyungwonnie. But yes, Injung is a talented dancer. He’s taught us a lot. Why?”

“I don’t know, it’s hard to explain. But he was just… he wants Kihyun-hyung to tell him about any ideas he has for the dance team. Said he had seen Kihyun dance in the middle school team and liked what he had come up with for us. And he… he was being touchy with Kihyun-hyung. I just.. I didn’t like it. And thought you should know”

“Oh, why did you think I should know, Hyungwonnie?”

“We all know you and Kihyun-hyung are close, hyung. Really close. I don’t know what to call it but you guys are always together and stuff so I figured you would want to know about some other guy trying to get close to Kihyun-hyung” Hyungwon shrugged and removed his hand from Hoseok’s. “You can forget I said anything if I’m being ridiculous”

“No no, Hyungwonnie” Hoseok reached back down and took his hand “Thank you for telling me. I’m sure Injung was just being nice to Kihyunnie. As for us…” he looked up at Kihyun smiling down at Changkyun and he shrugged “I don’t know what to call us either”

No one did. All the members of their family were close. That was an understatement. But there was definitely something different between the two of them. Something stronger that they both felt. It was an unspoken feeling that they only showed through how they took care of each other. Hoseok knew that they eventually had to talk about it but things were fine the way they were now and he was afraid to ruin things. But know that he knew the others noticed it, he wondered if Kihyun had ever said anything about it to them. Hyungwon didn’t seem to know anything but Kihyun was still closest with Minhyuk. After dance practice one day, Kihyun was called over by Injung and Hyunwoo to ask a few things so Hoseok took this moment to talk with Minhyuk alone. 

“Hey Minnie, can I ask you something?”

“Minnie? Since when do you call me by your brothers nickname for me?” Minhyuk laughed as he came over. Hoseok shrugged and shook his head.

“Not important. Look I need to ask you something before Kihyunnie comes back” Minhyuk looked to Kihyun talking to the other dance members than back to Hoseok.

“Okay hyung, what is it?”

“Has Kihyunnie ever mentioned us? Me and him I mean”

“Mentioned you how?”

“I don’t know… just like what we are?”

“I don’t think I’m understanding hyung. You and Kihyun, yeah I mean you guys are disgustingly close but aren’t we all reading partners that turned in to family?” Hoseok sighed and nodded.

“I know that Minhyukkie…”

“You want to know if Kihyunnie likes you more than just that though, don’t you?” Minhyuk spoke softly as he stepped closer to the older. Hoseok’s eyes shot up.

“I… I didn’t say that…”

“Look hyung, we all know there’s something more between you two. If you like him, like really like him than tell him. He’s never said anything to me about it, but I can tell that he likes you differently than the way he likes the rest of us. I’m sure he’ll like you back” Hoseok blushed slightly and covered his face with his hands.

“I uhh… thanks Minhyukkie. You were a huge help” Hoseok cut the conversation short as he saw Hyunwoo and Kihyun heading towards them.  The four members said their goodbyes to the team and headed out to meet the younger three at the middle school then to home. When they arrived to Hyunwoo and Hoseok’s house where they usually split ways, they were greeted by all their parents. The boys were told to come inside to the Son’s house where all the parents were sitting on the couches, even Hyungwon’s grandparents were there. The boys stood in front of them and waited patiently for the news to drop.

“Did something bad happen? Are we in trouble?” Hyunwoo spoke up first and the parents all looked amongst themselves before laughing. 

“No son, nothing like that” Mrs. Son smiled as she grabbed some pamphlets off the coffee table and handed them out one by one to the boys “We actually have a surprise for you all” They all looked down at the pamphlets in their hands. It was an advertisement for a ski resort. “We’re going to take you all on a vacation this winter break” The boys eyes shot up at Mrs. Son’s words and they all cheered. They spent the next few weeks talking about going skiing for the first time and packing their bags. 

When the trip finally arrived, everyone was so excited to see the large hills of snow. The parents had signed the kids up for some classes the first few days to ensure that they wouldn’t injure themselves. A few of the dads joined in as well while the moms stayed back with Hyungwon’s grandparents. On the the third day of their lessons, the only one continuously falling down was Minhyuk but Hyunwoo promised that he wouldn’t leave Minhyuk’s side when the teacher wasn’t around. They had one more day of lessons before being let out to ski by themselves so when the lesson was over for the day they turned in their skis and went out to explore. Walking back in to the resort to meet with their parents, they heard someone calling Kihyun’s name. They all stopped and turned around to see Injung running towards them waving his hand in the air. 

“Injung-hyung, what are you doing here?” Kihyun asked as the older reached them. Hyungwon huffed and moved closer to Hoseok. Hoseok put his arm around the younger and moved them closer to Kihyun.

“My family comes here every winter break. I’ve never seen you guys here before. Is this your first time?”

“Yeah, our families brought us here together. We’ve been taking lessons” Hyunwoo said as he stepped up as well.

“Well I don’t want to interrupt any family plans. Just wanted to say hi. It was nice seeing you Kihyunnie” Injung waved as he bowed his head and left.

“Why was it good just to see Ki-hyungie? Does he not like the rest of you?” Changkyun asked as he looked up at the older members.

“Nono, that’s not true” Kihyun shook his head.

“Since when does he call you Kihyunnie?” Minhyuk asked as he leaned in to Hyunwoo.

“And why did he act like he didn’t see the rest of us when he called your name?” Hyunwoo added. Kihyun shrugged and glanced over at Hoseok who was waiting for an answer.

“I don’t know. Just forget about him. Come on let’s get back to our room” Kihyun reached his hand out towards Hoseok who took it with his free hand and pulled Hyungwon along with them. Once back on the room Kihyun looked over Hoseok and called him over. “Hyung, are you mad from earlier with Injung? I swear I didn’t know he was going to be here” Hoseok sighed and shook his head.

“No Kihyunnie, I know you didn’t. This was just an unfortunate coincidence”

“Unfortunate?”

“I think the others, Hyunwoo Minhyuk Hyungwon and I, think that Injung might be trying to get close to you”

“What’s wrong with getting close to me?”

“Nothing’s wrong. I just mean that Injung likes to single you out. Even when he knows that we’re all together and he knows us”

“Is that my fault though? Do you think I need to tell him something?”

“No I’m not saying it’s your fault Kihyunnie.Maybe that’s just his personality”

“You’ve known him longer than I have, hyung. So I’ll trust you. I just don’t want to upset anyone when I didn’t do anything”

“No I know Kihyunnie. Don’t worry. We might not even see him again this trip so let’s not worry about it”

Of course they saw him again. As soon as they were all given the go ahead to ski without the teacher, they ran into him on the slopes. Minhyuk rolled his eyes and yelled for Hyunwoo to follow him as they made their way down the slope. Hyungwon went down with Jooheon while Changkyun waited for Hoseok and Kihyun.

“Why don’t you go ahead Hoseok. I can go down with Kihyun” Injung offered as their group started down the slope. Kihyun looked to Hoseok who stepped closer to the younger.

“No thanks, we already broke into units and Kihyun’s with me and Kyunnie here” Changkyun raised his hand and waved his pole at the older. 

“But I wanna see how Kihyunnie handles the slope”

“Well you can watch from behind as we go down together” 

“Come on, Hoseok. Let me see just once and then I’ll leave your little gathering alone. I’m sure Kihyunnie’s a natural at this”

Hoseok tried to keep calm as Injung was starting to rile him up. Kihyun held his hand out to block the older and shook his head.

“No thanks Injung-hyung. This trip is for my family and I’d rather spend time with them. Sorry. We’ll see you at school when it starts back up. Come on, Kyunnie” Kihyun pushed himself towards Changkyun but then looked back at Hoseok. “Hyung, are you coming?” Hoseok turned away from Injung and moved to the other side of Changkyun.

“Let’s go!” 

They made their way down the slopes and started going up and down in different pairs the rest of the afternoon. Minhyuk and Jooheon took a few spills but for the most part everyone was doing great. They were having so much fun that they didn’t realise how much time had passed and it was already time to turn in their equipment and head inside to warm up. Kihyun complained about his hands freezing as they went to turn in their skis and it was then that he noticed he was only wearing one glove. He turned around and travelled back a few steps to see if he had unconsciously taken it off without remembering but he didn’t see it anywhere. Hoseok saw him looking for something and came towards him.

“What’s wrong Kihyunnie?”

“I can’t find my other glove. No wonder my hand’s been frozen” he pouted slightly as he continued to look around “They’re my only pair and I don’t even remember it falling off”

“Do you think it’s on the slopes?”

“I don’t know” Kihyun shrugged and looked back to the slopes. “I could go back and check”

“No you stay here and warm up that hand. I’ll go up and look”

“Are you sure hyung?”

“Yeah, tell the others I’ll be right back” Hoseok smiled and made his way back up the slopes. Kihyun joined the others and told them where Hoseok went and they all waited at the bottom of the slopes for him. They watched him come down slowly, crossing over to both sides carefully to see if he could find the glove. At one point he called out and stopped “Found it!” The others clapped as they watched him bend down to pick it up. At that moment though Injung came flying down the slopes and turned really fast as if he was going to ram in to Hoseok. Kihyun screamed out as Injung jumped over Hoseok at the last minute. As he skidded to a stop in front of Hoseok, his skis pushed some snow up and at Hoseok who shook it off. The six members of the family came running up the slope. 

“Hey, watch where you’re going!”

“You could have hurt Hoseokie-hyung”

“I think he did that on purpose!”

“What were you thinking Injung?”

They all spoke at once and Injung just laughed them all off.

“It was clearly an accident. Didn’t see you since you were crouching down. Maybe you shouldn’t drop things on the track”

“He didn't! I did. And he came back to look for it for me” Kihyun crossed his arms as he stepped towards Hoseok. Injung just shrugged and turned away from them. He started to head back down the slope when Hyungwon threw a snowball at him causing him to crash in to the snow. Everyone but Kihyun laughed as Injung brushed himself off and embarrassedly skied off. Hoseok held out the glove to Kihyun who took it then hit Hoseok with it. “Are you crazy? You could have gotten hurt back there. I knew I shouldn’t have let you come back and look for this”

“But Kihyunnie, I’m fine”

“All of this over my stupid glove. We could’ve just left it for tomorrow”

“But you said it was important since it was your only pair”

“You’re what’s important to me Hoseok!!” Kihyun yelled out. Hyunwoo smiled up at them and tried to usher the others away to give them some privacy. Minhyuk whined and begged to stay and eavesdrop but Hyunwoo promised to take the other in to the hot tub once they were back at the resort so Minhyuk agreed and helped get the others down the slope without anyone falling. Hoseok and Kihyun just stared at each other after Kihyun’s outburst. Kihyun was fidgeting with the glove in his hand and once he was able to break the stare off they were having he looked down at his hands and tried to calm the shaking in his hands down enough to put the glove back on. When his eyes came back up to look at Hoseok, he was still looking at him.

“You’re important to me too, Kihyun” 

“Am I?”

“Of course you are. You’re the most important person in my life. I’d do anything for you” Kihyun watched as Hoseok took a step closer to him and reached for his hands, taking them both in to his own. “You mean more to me than I can express” Kihyun felt himself blush as he shifted a little under Hoseok’s stare.

“Is that why you didn’t like Injung trying to get close to me?”

“Yes, I hated it. I don’t want anyone else getting close to you. When I thought he liked you, it killed me. I didn’t want you to like him in that way”

“I don’t! Like him in that way, I mean” Kihyun shook his head and squeezed the older’s hands. 

“I like you… in that way” Hoseok spoke softly and looked in to Kihyun’s eyes. They held each other’s gazes for a moment before Kihyun nodded up to him.

“I like you too hyung” Kihyun smiled brightly at Hoseok who couldn’t help but smile back and pulled the younger into a hug. Kihyun rested his head against the other while he wrapped his arms around the older’s back. They stayed that way for a moment before Kihyun pulled back and smiled “Let’s go inside. I’m freezing” They both laughed softly as Hoseok put his arm around the younger and they headed back down the slope. Hoseok finally turned in his gear and they made their way back to their rooms. Once inside the boys looked straight at them, waiting to see what the result of their conversation would be.

“What?” Hoseok asked as he stepped out of his snow boots.

“Well?! Did you tell him you liked him?” Minhyuk blurted out and Hyungwon and Hyunwoo smacked his arm while the others laughed. KIhyun blushed and leaned in to Hoseok who put his arm back around the smaller.

“I did!” Hoseok smiled and leaned down to kiss the top of Kihyun’s head.

“Aaaand Kihyunnie….” Minhyuk teased as he pointed a finger at his best friend.

“Yes Minhyukkie, I told him I liked him too!” Kihyun shook his head as the rest of the boys cheered and ran to give them a group hug.

“Finally!!” 

“What took you two so long?”

“We’ve been waiting for this!”

They all laughed and moved to settle down under some blankets to watch a movie. The rest of their vacation went smoothly and they avoided running into Injung as well. Once back home, they went back to their normal schedule. Things didn’t really change between Hoseok and Kihyun as they already were extremely clingy with each other. The only notable difference the others saw was that Hoseok kept Kihyun under his arm when they were next to each other. But they were all thankful that the two had finally spoken about their feelings. 

It was the bottom of the ninth inning and they were one point away from winning this game. Normally this wasn't cause for the whole audience to be on edge but the playoffs were on the line. If they won, they’d be going to Jeju for the playoff weekend. But this time the families spoke about it and all agreed they would all go if the team made it that far. Minhyuk and Kihyun held hands as they watched the game. Hyunwoo and Hoseok had not stopped talking about wanting to go to Jeju for their final year and all the boys really wanted this for them. Jooheon and Changkyun were cheering along as Hyungwon sat quietly and watched intently. Luckily, both Hyunwoo and Hoseok had already batted so Kihyun didn’t have to look away to see if their team would win or not. The last few minutes were extremely tense as they were able to score and pull ahead of the other team. The crowd erupted in cheers as the whole team ran onto the field and celebrated their win. Mr. Shin followed by Hyunwoo and Hoseok came running over to the stands after taking a few photos. Mrs. Shin was waiting with her arms open for her husband ready to congratulate him. She nodded to Hoseok as he ran past her and ran straight to Kihyun. Kihyun laughed as Hoseok picked him up in a hug and spun him around. 

“Hyung, put me down!!” he gently hit the others shoulder but still smiling at him “Congratulations!”

“Thank you!!” Hoseok smiled and kissed Kihyun’s forehead. He gently placed Kihyun down and leaned down to hug Hyungwon who was still sitting on the bleacher “Aren’t you going to congratulate us, Hyungwonnie?” Shaking his head the younger smiled.

“Yes Hoseok-hyung, congratulations! You played well”

Minhyuk was holding on to Hyunwoo near tears as the older was hugging Jooheon and Changkyun.

“I’m just so proud of you…” Minhyuk sniffled and everyone laughed at his dramatics. The whole family moved in a for a group hug and went out that night to celebrate and plan their Jeju trip. Changkyun told them off all the places he remembered from their last trip that he wanted them all to go to together. Of course they all agreed and Jeju was all they could talk about for the new two weeks until the time came to leave. The families agreed to meet up early at the airport to check in as a group and the kids were mostly half asleep the whole time. The next thing they knew they were landing in Jeju and walking out of the airport. A collective “Woooow” was heard from them all as they took in the sight of the beautiful island. Their parents laughed at them and ushered them to the shuttle that was taking them to their hotel. Mr. Shin, Hyunwoo and Hoseok had to go to a team meeting with the rest of the team so the other’s went and got settled in to their rooms. Kihyun was rooming with his parents and Hyungwon since his grandparents didn’t want to fly so Kihyun was sharing a bed with Hyungwon just like old times. They were sitting on the bed looking out the window at the beach nearby the hotel and Hyungwon rested his head on Kihyun’s shoulder.

“Kihyun-hyung, Hoseok-hyung won’t get mad at me for sharing the bed with you right?” Kihyun felt his cheeks get warm as he tried to laugh it off and shook his head, shifting to rest his head on top of the youngers.

“He has no reason to. We’ve been sharing a bed for years now Hyungwonnie. All those nights you use to spend the night when we were still in school together, remember?”

“I know but that was before... “

“Before what Hyungwonnie?” he turned a bit to look down at the younger who mirrored the movement

“Before you guys became a couple” KIhyun’s eyes widened at the younger’s words.

“A couple?” he spoke softly mostly to himself “Yeah I guess we are but nothings changed. Hoseok and I haven’t shared a bed or even really kissed so…”

“You haven’t kissed? You kiss all the time”

“On the cheeks yeah. And he kisses my head a lot more often now. But we haven’t kissed. At least not on purpose”

“On purpose? How do you kiss accidentally?” Hyungwon raised an eyebrow causing a laugh to come out of them both.

“It was years ago. A head turned too early and the cheek was missed” Kihyun fiddled with his fingers in his lap as Hyungwon bit his lip trying hard not to laugh out at the older.

“Do you want to kiss him on purpose, hyung?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t really thought about it. I mean, I do. I like him. I just don’t want things to change too much. Things are great the way they are now”

“But if he tried to kiss you would you let him?” Hyungwon leaned in and poked Kihyun’s side. Kihyun blushed and shifted on the bed. Words escaped him so he just nodded as Hyungwon smiled up and him and leaned in for a hug. “I’m happy for you, hyung” Kihyun smiled back and returned and the hug.

“Thank you, Hyungwonnie” Mrs. Yoo stood near the door and leaned against the wall trying not to eavesdrop on the kids. She smiled and shook her head at the sight. After they seemed to stop talking, she called out that they were going out to the beach. Kihyun and Hyungwon stood up and got changed to head out. When they were in the lobby waiting for everyone, Changkyun came running towards them.

“Look, my first beach trip with the family and I don’t have to use an inflatable!” he spun around showing off the lack of the plastic blow-up. The older boys laughed at their youngest and congratulated him as they finally made their way out. Mrs. Shin said that her husband and the oldest two would be heading up to the room shortly to change and then they’d be meeting up with them so the boys nodded and agreed to wait for the older two before going into the water. To pass the time, they decided to bury Minhyuk in the sand, even at the older’s complaints. Jooheon and Changkyun were having a little too much fun making designs on the mountain of sand that was now on top of Minhyuk when the oldest two were finally making their way over.

“What’s going on here?” Hyunwoo raised an eyebrow as he looked down at his partner in the sand.

“Apparently, when I become the oldest, they gang up on me” Minhyuk pouted and struggled in the sand as the others laughed at him.

“Technically, you’re the same age as Kihyunnie-hyung” Jooheon pointed out as Kihyun shrugged and smiled “But we can’t bury KIhyunnie-hyung or Hoseokie-hyung would kill us”

“I’m more afraid of Ki-hyungie than hyung” Changkyun whispered to Jooheon but the others heard and all burst into laughter.

“Why am I scary?” Kihyun put his hands on his hips as he walked towards the youngest.

“See! See this is why” Changkyun pointed to Kihyun as he backed away slowly from Kihyun before turning and running. Kihyun took off chasing Changkyun as Hyunwoo helped unbury Minhyuk and the others laughed. Kihyun caught the youngest and had his arm wrapped around his shoulders as they made their way back towards the group.

“Well since you’re so proud of the fact that you don’t have to wear a floaty this year, let’s see your amazing swimming skills Kyunnie” Kihyun raised his eyebrows as he looked to the others. They all seemed to be on the same page as the six older boys ambushed Changkyun and picked him up, carrying him over to the water before tossing the youngest in. They laughed as Changkyun flailed a bit before finding his footing and standing up.

“Ha ha very funny hyungs!” Changkyun leaned down and splashed the water at the older boys who all jumped in and started a water war amongst them. Mr. Shin yelled out to them to not tire themselves out too much as the baseball team would be having practice that evening but the boys didn’t seem to care as they spent the next few hours splashing around and swimming. They only got out when their stomachs were yelling at them to eat. After eating, they went to dry off and wished the older two luck at their practice as the rest hung out in the rooms. Minhyuk had them all gathered in his room to play video games when a knock came at the door. Changkyun ran to grab it and at the door were their two exhausted hyungs. Ushering them inside, Kihyun made room next to him for Hoseok who immediately plopped down and leaned to rest his head on the younger’s shoulder.

“Did practice go well hyung?” Kihyun shifted to let the older get comfortable and reached over to intertwine their fingers. Hoseok just nodded and closed his eyes.

“Coach Shin is a little excited for the playoffs so we ran a lot of drills” Hyunwoo yawned as he stretched. Minhyuk handed his controller to Hyunwoo and moved behind him to give him a massage.

“Maybe Dad was right and you shouldn’t have played so rough in the water earlier” Changkyun teased as Hoseok reached his free hand over towards Changkyun but since his eyes were still closed he accidentally hit Hyungwon instead. Hoseok sat up and apologized to Hyungwon while the younger pouted.

“Watch your mouth Kyunnie, we’re sharing a bed later” Hoseok warned as he leaned back down on to Kihyun’s shoulder.

“Ooor I could switch with Wonnie-hyungie…” Changkyun offered as he moved to hide behind Jooheon. 

“Who’s Hyungwonnie sleeping with?” Hoseok yawned as the room stilled, waiting for Hoseok to realize the answer. Kihyun shook his head gently not to disturb the older and squeezed his hand.

“I am…” he whispered against the older’s hair as Hoseok shot straight up and looked wide-eyed at Kihyun. The others laughed at his reaction as Kihyun continued to shake his head. “Don’t give me that look. His grandparents didn’t come so he had to room with someone. Hyungwonnie always use to sleep with me so it was the best option” Kihyun smiled as he looked over at Hyungwon. Hoseok looked around at the group and shook himself awake.

“Nono, that’s fine. I’m not mad” Hoseok looked back to Hyungwon and smiled.

“Maybe not mad… but are you feeling something else hyung?” Changkyun teased, looking around Jooheon’s shoulder.

“You really are testing your limits tonight, Kyunnie” Hyunwoo said as he shook his head, resting back in to Minhyuk. The younger wrapped his arms around Hyunwoo and smiled.

“He has a point though, Hyunwoo-hyung. Don’t you feel something else Hoseok-hyung?” Minhyuk egged the youngest on as Hyunwoo tapped Minhyuk’s hand.

“Behave, Minhyukkie” he whispered to the other. Hoseok shook his head some more and laughed.

“No, why should I?” he looked around the room as the younger members laughed at him. Kihyun sighed and pulled Hoseok back in to him.

“Just ignore them, hyung. They’re just teasing you” the group held a collective ‘awww’ at the sight and Kihyun glared at them all. They went back to their game and soon Hyungwon and Changkyun were fighting to keep their eyes open just as much as Hyunwoo and Hoseok were. Kihyun made the decision it was time for bed and started moving everyone out of Minhyuk’s room. They all said their goodnights and headed down the hall to their rooms. Kihyun held Hyungwon’s hand and gently led the younger to their room. Hoseok had Changkyun on his back as he stopped in front of Kihyun and Hyungwon’s room.

“Kihyunnie, are you going to bed right now?” Kihyun turned and looked at the older as he ushered Hyungwon into the room. 

“I’m not too tired yet. But I know you are” he smiled as he reached up and brushed the older’s hair away from his eyes. Hoseok leaned in to the touch a but but shifted to adjust Changkyun on his back.

“Let me go put him in bed and maybe you and I can take a walk?”

“Are you sure hyung? I know you’re exhausted”

“I’m sure. I want to show you something” KIhyun looked at him for a minute before nodding.

“Let me get Hyungwon in bed. I’ll grab my jacket and meet you by your door?” Hoseok agreed and moved off to get to their room. He tucked Changkyun in and grabbed his own jacket. He told his dad he would be back soon and headed out. Kihyun was already at the door and pointed back to his room. His father was standing in the doorway and nodded to them.

“He just wanted to make sure I actually met up with you” Kihyun laughed as Hoseok waved at the others father and then took his hand.

“Let’s go” they intertwined their fingers and headed down to the lobby and then outside.

“Shin Hoseok, where are you taking me at this hour?” Kihyun hummed as he walked alongside the older. Hoseok just smiled and kept walking forward.

“You’ll see. I remembered something from my last trip here that I wanted to share with you” Kihyun just nodded and continued following the other. They had made it to the same beach that they were at earlier and Kihyun stopped to look at the older.

“Hyung, we were here just a few hours ago”

“Yeah but it didn’t look like this, did it?” Hoseok turned to face the other and then pointed up, turning his face to the sky. Kihyun followed where Hoseok was pointing and looked up to see a dark sky filled with stars.

“Wow” Kihyun whispered as he wrapped his arms around himself and took in the sight. He slowly turned in a circle to take in the full sight, smiling brightly. His eyes sparkled under the light of the moon and the stars and Hoseok knew he had made the right decision in bringing the other out here “This is beautiful, hyung” When Kihyun looked back at Hoseok, the older was no longer looking at the sky but now at him. Kihyun blushed slightly and shook his head “The stars are that way, hyung” pointing back up to the sky.

“I’m aware. But there’s something brighter in front of me” Hoseok reached out and brought the other closer to him, wrapping his arms around the younger’s lower back. “You’re so pretty, Kihyunnie” They both blushed at the older’s words but stayed still, looking in to each other’s eyes for a moment. Kihyun broke the moment when a gust of wind blew past them and he caught a chill. Hoseok pulled him in even closer and Kihyun rested his head against the older’s chest while Hoseok moved his hands up and down Kihyun’s back to warm him up.

“Thank you for bringing me here” Kihyun spoke softly as he drew little circles on Hoseok’s chest. Hoseok looked down at him and smiled, kissing the top of his head.

“I’ll take you anywhere, Kihyunnie” Kihyun laughed softly and nodded against him.

“You’d give me anything I wanted?”

“Anything” Hoseok answered and Kihyun pulled back, still laughing.

“You answered that awfully fast hyung. What if I asked for something crazy?”

“If you want it, you can have it. No matter how crazy it is” Kihyun shook his head and smiled.

“What if I said, I wanted you to win the championship for me?”

“Then consider it done”

“Promise?” Kihyun stepped back and held out his pinky. Hoseok looked down at the hand and laughed. He hooked his pinky with the others and nodded.

“Promise” he then pulled the other back in and hugged him again. Kihyun smiled and nuzzled his head against the older’s chest as they just stood there and enjoyed the atmosphere. Hoseok tried to stifle a yawn but Kihyun perked up and pulled back to look at the older.

“Let’s go to bed now, hyung, You have a long two days ahead of you if you plan on winning this for me” he smiled and took Hoseok’s hand. They walked back to their hotel and Hoseok walked Kihyun to his room. The atmosphere seemed tense as they just stood there, waiting to see who would make the first move. When Hoseok yawned again, Kihyun laughed and gently pushed the other “Go to bed hyung. I’ll see you at breakfast” Hoseok pouted but nodded and leaned down to kiss Kihyun’s cheek.

“Goodnight, Kihyunnie. Sleep well” Kihyun nodded and kissed Hoseok’s cheek as well.

“You too. Don’t kick Kyunnie out of bed” Kihyun teased as he reached for the door and headed inside. Hoseok watched him walk inside and sighed before heading to his room.

They all met up the next morning for breakfast before the first round of playoffs. The stadium they were at was huge as it was bit overwhelming. It had two playing fields so there were multiple games going on at once in order to condense the playoffs into just one weekend. If Hoseok was going to keep his promise, they would have to play two times that day and then twice tomorrow for the championship. They won their first game of the day and had to wait for few hours until their second game. The families didn’t want to leave the stadium so to entertain themselves while the parents just watched the other games, the kids wandered around buying concessions. Jooheon found a hill near the field that a few other players were resting on and he pulled Minhyuk with him to go sit. The others followed and sat together to watch the game closest to the hill while they waited. A few of Hyunwoo and Hoseok’s teammates were also on the hill so they figured they would all leave together when it was time for their next game. The younger members had found some rocks to entertain themselves with while Minhyuk and Kihyun leaned in to their older partners. Minhyuk was again giving Hyunwoo a shoulder massage while Hoseok played with Kihyun’s hand. 

“You know, your hands have always been ridiculously soft Kihyunnie” he commented as Kihyun laughed and nodded.

“And yours have always been so rough and itchy. What have I told you about taking care of that?” he poked at Hoseok who shifted and smiled.

“I know I know. But baseball makes them this way” the older pouted and Kihyun just shook his head.

“Once these games are over, come see me and I can take care of that” Hoseok smiled and lifted Kihyun’s hand to kiss the back of it. Kihyun blushed slightly and turned his head to kiss Hoseok’s shoulder. After some time passed, it was time for them to get ready for their next game so the oldest two ran off with their teammates while the rest of the family stayed on the hill. Luckily their next game was in the field right by the hill so they could see everything clearly. The two teams were well matched and had stayed tied for most of the second half of the game. Hoseok was walking up to home plate to get ready to bat and Kihyun turned away as always. Hyungwon had taken it upon himself to narrate what went on in the game when Hyunwoo and Hoseok were up at bat for Kihyun. The younger spoke Kihyun through the first two pitches, one strike and one foul. Kihyun sighed and closed his eyes, folding his hands together. The rest of their family members were cheering Hoseok on as the next ball was thrown. Kihyun couldn’t hear Hyungwon’s narration as the cheers erupted when Hoseok hit the ball, allowing their team to advance on the bases. Next was Hyunwoo and if the older was able to hit the ball, they could bring in the runner on third, with Hoseok on first base. Kihyun stayed turned away as Minhyuk cheered for their oldest member. Hyungwon narrated that Hyunwoo turned and waved at them before he focused back on the game. Kihyun took a few deep breaths as Hyungwon said Hyunwoo also had one strike and one foul. The next pitch was muffled again as Hyunwoo was able to hit the ball and they not only brought in the runner on third but Hoseok did not stop running and stole third base before making his way to home. Kihyun turned back to watch as they saw Mr. Shin urging Hoseok to run faster. The five boys were now all standing and holding hands as they watched Hoseok slide in to home and score, bringing their team now two points ahead of the other team. They jumped up and down cheering along with the rest of the crowd but Hoseok looked straight to them on the hill. Hyunwoo who was on second base did the same as the five younger members continued to cheer and wave at their oldest members. They were able to win the second game easily thanks to Hoseok and they had made it to the semifinals for tomorrow. 

As a precaution, Mr. Shin told Hoseok to ice his shoulder for the night so they were all confined to Hoseok’s hotel room to allow the older two to rest. They didn’t mind as everyone was still reeling from the win. Minhyuk, Jooheon and Changkyun gave an animated play by play of the game while the other four listened in. Kihyun shifted the ice pack on Hoseok’s shoulder to make sure it was hitting the right spots as Hyungwon was resting his head in Hoseok’s lap.Hyunwoo sat beside Hoseok and tickled Hyungwon’s feet anytime they came near him. The younger would whine but enjoyed the attention. They spent their night just enjoying each other's presence. After some time, they all crashed. Hyunwoo had moved to the other bed and was sitting up against the headboard with Minhyuk’s head in his lap. Jooheon and Changkyun were laying across the bottom of the bed. And Hoseok was still sitting up against the headboard of the other bed with Kihyun sitting next to him. His head rested on Hoseok’s good shoulder while Hyungwon was still in the same spot with his head in Hoseok’s lap.  When Mr. and Mrs. Shin came in to find the seven boys spread out over the two beds they laughed softly and went to sleep in the room with the Son’s but not before taking a few photos to show the boys in the morning. At breakfast the parents couldn’t stop aww-ing over the photos that had been sent to the group chat the night before. The boys tried to ignore their parents and went on with their day like normal. The games weren’t until after lunch so they had the morning to themselves. Mrs. Shin had booked them a trail hike on Hallasan for them all. It was something that Changkyun had said he remembered doing the last time they were there and he wanted to experience it with everyone. Mr. Shin warned the older two about wearing themselves out too early so the group agreed to do the shorter trail to make sure the older boys would still have energy for their game later. Taking in the view, everyone was awed by the sights, stopping every few minutes to pose for pictures. Luckily their moms thought of everything and had packed them a picnic lunch so once Minhyuk complained he was hungry, they sat down on some blankets to eat. The parents sat a bit away from the kids so they were able to talk about the night before.

“So about last night… it didn’t feel weird to anyone did it?” Minhyuk brought up as he unwrapped his kimbab. Everyone looked around at each other and shook their heads. “I mean like I know we're practically inseparable as it is. But last night just felt perfect to me for some reason. Did anyone else feel that?”

“It was comfortable. We’re always comfortable together. Why would it be weird?” Hyunwoo asked as he leaned in and opened his mouth waiting for Minhyuk to feed him.

“It felt kinda right…” Changkyun spoke up softly and Jooheon who was sitting next to him nodded in agreement putting his arm around the younger.

“I mean we do spend all of our time together” Hyungwon added and everyone agreed.

“Sooo, we could do it again? Maybe tonight?” Minhyuk asked as he gave another piece of kimbab to Hyunwoo.

“I don’t mind”

“I’ll do it again”

“Hyung was comfy”

Minhyuk smiled at everyone’s reaction and nodded “Good, good” he turned to look at the quiet pair on their own blanket “And our love birds, I’m assuming you two are okay with all of us sleeping together? Or were you two in your own little world the whole time?” Kihyun looked over at Minhyuk and smiled.

“We were not in our little world, Minhyukkie. Hyungwonnie was with us the whole time. We may be together now but we’ll always want to be together with you guys too” Hoseok nodded as he put his arm around Kihyun. “We still are figuring out what us being together now actually means but that doesn't make you all any less important.”

“If anything, you guys are just as important. We don’t call ourselves a family for nothing” everyone nodded in agreement and ate the rest of their lunch talking about random topics. 

Once the time came, they headed back down the trail and went to the hotel to get ready for the game. Once at the stadium, they wished Hyunwoo and Hoseok luck before moving to take their seats. Kihyun sat in between Minhyuk and Hyungwon during the first game. Hyungwon to give him his play by play when he had to look away and Minhyuk to give him support by holding his hand. The first game seemed to fly by with ease as they won and made it to the finals. Hyunwoo and Hoseok did not come back to visit in between games as Mr. Shin wanted the whole team to stay focused and relaxed. As much as the boys wanted to see the older two, they understood the reasoning and remained in their seats to wait patiently for the next game to end so that they'd finally be at the finals. TIme dragged until the finals game started but once the whistle blew, it felt like the last game flew by. Hyungwon kept up pretty well telling Kihyun what was going on whenever one of their boys was up to bat even with Minhyuk and Jooheon nagging Kihyun to try and watch for the finals game. Kihyun did try and peek at one time Hyunwoo was up at bat but his nerves got the best of him and he quickly turned away. They all saw his face drop as he turned away and no one brought it up again the rest of the game. By the fourth time Hoseok was up at bat, all the boys were giving a play by play to Kihyun, some more helpful than others. When their team was in the outfield, Hyunwoo and Hoseok would always try to make eye contact with their family to acknowledge their presence and their cheers. They finally made it down to the final inning and they were currently in the lead. The five boys seated in the crowd all reached over and held each other’s hands. If they could make it through their team playing in the outfield without the other team scoring, then they would win and wouldn’t have to go up to bat. 

“Hyung, your hands are sweating”

“Sorry I’m nervous”

“Don’t be nervous, everything will be fine”

“They’ve played a great game either way”

“Don’t say that, they’re going to win” 

The boys talked over each other to try and calm their nerves as the game went on. Kihyun kept his eyes on the scoreboard as he watched the lights light up under the word strike and ball for each pitch that occured. It was as if time stood still. Two outs, two runners on base, next batter was up with two balls and one strike. The pitcher wound up and released the ball. The sound of the ball hitting the bat was deafening as everyone followed the ball with their eyes. It was headed Hyunwoo’s way as Minhyuk screamed out for Hyunwoo. The older member positioned himself under the ball and easily caught it. ‘Out” was called. The boys ripped apart from each other as they stood in ovation with the rest of the crowd as everyone screamed and cheered for their teams victory. Mrs. Shin was the first one to cry as they all started hugging each other in the crowd. The team gathered in the pitchers mound and celebrated in a clump. The trophy was brought out to them and they raised it up as everyone erupted in deafening cheers again. As they took pictures and answered some interviews, the crowds started to thin but their family stayed in their section until Jooheon couldn’t take it anymore and dragged Changkyun and Hyungwon with him down near the field. The others followed closely behind as they waited near the dugout. As soon as Mr. Shin dismissed the team and they all headed to the dugout, the five boys screamed in unison ‘Congratulations!’ The whole team stopped and smiled at their little cheer team they had come to love over the past couple of years. The five boys were a constant pillar at every game and almost every practice that every member of team appreciated them, not just Hyunwoo and Hoseok. Mr. Shin laughed at them and called over one of the umpires. They watched as the umpire nodded and came towards the boys. He motioned for them to follow him as they walked past the dugout along to a fence where the umpire unlocked it and let them onto the field. Changkyun was the first to run out onto the field and straight into his father’s arms. Jooheon and Minhyuk made their way to Hyunwoo who crouched down and scooped them both up in his arms. Hyungwon and Kihyun made their way to Hoseok. Hyungwon hugged Hoseok first then stepped aside to let him hug Kihyun. Hoseok squatted down to let Hyungwon get on his back and Kihyun helped him. Hoseok made sure Hyungwon was secure before putting his arm around Kihyun and holding him close. Kihyun tried to complain about Hoseok being sweaty but Hoseok ignored him and squished him closer. Mr. Shin called them all over and handed the trophy to Hyunwoo. The seven boys gathered together as Mr. Shin took out his phone to take a picture of their little family together. One of the reporters also caught the moment and came in to ask if he could also take a shot for their article. After it was all over with, the seven boys went back to their parents to head back to the hotel. After showers and a well deserved meal, they all settled down in the lobby. Kihyun had called for everyone to meet downstairs because he wanted to share the sight that Hoseok had shared with him with the rest of their family. The seven walked outside towards the beach and kicked their shoes of to play along the shoreline a bit. After a bit, Kihyun collected them all and brought them all to sit on a blanket he brought so that they could all look up at the stars.

“You know, I really thought things were going to end for us when they cancelled the reading partner program” Hyunwoo spoke up startling everyone as they turned to look over at him.

“Why’s that hyung?” Jooheon scooted closer to his big brother.

“It’s what our whole friendship was built around.I just had a bad feeling that without that foundation, that there would be no reason for us to see each other anymore” everyone shifted a bit and looked around at each other “I don’t know if I could imagine my life without the six of you”

“Hyuuuuung” Minhyuk whined as he leaned his head on Hyunwoo’s shoulder. Hyunwoo laughed softly and moved his arm around the younger.

“I know I know, I just felt like this was the right time to say something. You guys have always been here for me and even though Seok and I graduate in a few weeks, I want you guys to know that we’re always going to be here for you guys too. No matter what” Hoseok smiled and reached his hand out to Hyunwoo who took it and they held them there for a few seconds.

“We’ll be here for every event, every competition. Just like you guys were for us” Hoseok smiled as he looked around the room “You guys have been a great support and I agree with Hyunwoo. No matter what, we’ll always be here. You can’t get rid of us” he let go of Hyunwoo’s hand and leaned over to tickle Changkyun. Everyone laughed at the pair of brothers and Hyungwon shifted to kneel up. He cleared his throat and everyone turned to look at him.

“I also agree with Hyunwoo-hyung. I don’t know what my life would be like without you guys.” The whole group smiled at Hyungwon and Kihyun reached his hand out towards the younger’s, taking it in his own and interlacing their fingers. “My grandma told me that she moved us here the moment she heard of the reading partner program because she wanted me to have a family. I’ll never know if I have any biological siblings or if my parents are even still together but I have six brothers in you guys and I wouldn’t change that for anything. Your my family now and I would do anything to stay with you forever” Jooheon and Minhyuk started tearing up as they all moved to hug Hyungwon and in return the whole group. “I love you guys. Forever may be a long time but I know I want a forever with you” Hyungwon spoke softly as he sniffled and they held each other for a few moments. A couple more whispered ‘I love you guys’ could be heard amongst their sniffling as they settled back on the blanket. 

“You ever think what would have happened if we didn’t live here? Would we have all still met?” Minhyuk proposed as he got settled next to Hyunwoo.

“There’s no telling Minhyukkie” the oldest shrugged as he moved his arm around the younger.

“Then is it weird to think that fate brought us all together? I mean how scary is it that my mother and Kihyunnie’s mother were partners then years later the two of us become partners with best friends? That has to be fate, right?” Everyone looked to Minhyuk and smiled.

“Whatever it was, I am glad it brought us all together” Jooheon moved in to Minhyuk’s side and leaned his head on the olders shoulder. Minhyuk put his arm around him as well and kissed the top of his head. 

“So what do we have next?” Hoseok asked.

“We still have your graduation, hyung” Changkyun teased as Hoseok rubbed his head and smiled.

“Yours too, Kyunnie” he teased back as Changkyun smiled and nodded.

“Finally I’ll be back with Joo-hyungie and Wonnie-hyungie” the two older boys smiled as they moved to hug Changkyun. Minhyuk rested his head on Hyunwoo’s shoulder and Hoseok pulled Kihyun to sit between his legs. Kihyun rested against Hoseok’s chest as he looked over at their family. Everything really was perfect. He smiled as they settled in to a comfortable silence. When they finally got ready to head inside, Kihyun held Hoseok back from the group a bit and crossed his arms. Hoseok tilted his head to the side and reached out to rub his hands over the other’s arms.

“Are you cold KIhyunnie? Let’s get inside”

“No it’s not that hyung” Kihyun smiled and shook his head.

“Then what’s wrong?” Hoseok pouted down at the younger and Kihyun couldn’t hold back any longer. He placed his hands on top of Hoseok’s shoulders and used that as leverage to step up on toes and lean to press his lips against Hoseok’s. The kiss didn’t last long as Kihyun pulled back and quickly dropped his hands so that he could fiddle with them while he waited for Hoseok’s reaction. “What.. what was that? I thought we weren’t allowed to kiss?”

“We what? When did we say that?”

“You made me promise that I wouldn’t kiss you on the lips, remember?”

“Really hyung, that was years ago” Kihyun shook his head and laughed “Is that why you haven’t kissed me since we confessed?” Hoseok laughed as well and nodded.

“I didn’t want to break another promise”

“I think this is a promise I am willing to let you break” Hoseok raised an eyebrow at the younger as he smiled and stepped in to close the distance between them. He hooked one hand around the younger’s waist and pulled him in against him. He brought his other hand up to cup Kihyun’s cheek as he leaned in and captured his lips again, this time holding it longer. Kihyun slipped his arms up around Hoseok’s neck as he kissed the older back. 

“IT’S ABOUT TIME!!!” they heard from a ways away as they pulled back and looked at their family staring at them. Hoseok blushed and hid his face in to Kihyun’s shoulder as Kihyun patted his back and shook his head. He forced the older to stand back up as they took each others hands and caught up with their family. They found the Shin room empty again as the parents were bunking in the Son’s room so the seven took to the beds to sleep together. 

They spent one last day in Jeju together exploring before they headed back home. The school year ended with no problems. Hyunwoo and Hoseok graduated high school and Changkyun graduated elementary school. The families celebrated as always and they spent their summer together dancing and playing ball and just enjoying each other. Hyunwoo and Hoseok both got accepted into the local university so that they were still close. As the years went on, many dance competitions were attended and won. In concession, Jooheon and Hyungwon graduated middle school moving on to join Kihyun and Minhyuk in high school. Kihyun and Minhyuk graduated high school and joined Hyunwoo and Hoseok at the local university. Changkyun graduated middle school and was even awarded the opportunity to jump ahead a year due to his high test scores the same year Hyunwoo and Hoseok graduated university. They celebrated a lot that summer. And they were always together. No one broke that promise. And no one had any intention of doing so. They were going to face this life together as seven. And nothing was going to tear them apart. 

Their bond was proof that the program did indeed work. There was a picture in the elementary school of the seven of them on the field in Jeju holding the trophy right next to a picture of the seven of them attending Changkyun’s high school graduation. The principal of the elementary school opened her mail to find a new picture to place on the display. It was the seven of them at Kihyun and Hoseok’s wedding. The five boys were groomsmen while Kihyun and Hoseok stood in the center. She smiled as she placed the photo next to the other’s. Many different “families” were displayed in the glass case but she had to admit this was one of her favorite “families”. 


End file.
